Crystalline Heart
by Rei Helen
Summary: This takes place five years after Season One of Magic Knight Rayearth, assuming Season Two never occurred. The story is complete...read the prequel, "Ruby"!
1. Bells Are Ringing

Bells are Ringing

Camaro looked out the window of the _Stratus_. "So this is Cephiro," he murmured, unimpressed. "Doesn't look like much."

"But I bet there are plenty of beautiful women!" his brother Camry replied. "And we're way down the list of planets. Perhaps this is where I will find the most beautiful one of all!"

"Speak when you're spoken to, Camry!" Camaro ordered. "And don't think I'm going to change my plans just so you can chase some Cephiran chick. We're not here to look at girls, we're here for world domination!"

"World domination, schmerld domination," muttered Camry. "Just because of what happened last time..."

"You insolent fool!" Camaro shouted. "How dare you speak back to me!"

"Just because mom always liked you better doesn't mean you can pick on me!" Camry protested, sticking out his tongue. "I _am_ older than you."

"Well, I'm bigger than you, stronger than you, and I'll do what I like, whether you want me to or not," Camaro replied, turning back to the window. "Now go back to your room until you're ready to apologize."

"Can I play with my dolls?"

"I don't give a pink pancake! Just leave me alone!"

"Huh? Ryuuzaki Umi to Kawakami Hayase? I can't believe it--Umi's getting married!" Hikaru put down the newspaper and opened up the front door of Yamada Animal Hospital, the veterinarian's office where she was an assistant, at least until she finished her bachelor's degree in two years. "The first appointment should be showing up right about...now."

She grinned. "Good morning!" she greeted her customer, the owner of a large black dog. He looked up at her sadly.

"Kurado's sick," he said sadly. "I don't know what to do."

"Well, let me take a look at him," Hikaru replied. "I'm sure he'll be as good as new in no time! You just wait here while I take him in to the examining room."

"But--Kurado usually doesn't like other people--" The dog was smiling and drooling happily at Hikaru, who grinned back.

"I've just got a thing for animals, that's all. Let's take a look at him." Hikaru rushed into the examining room, leaving the door swinging behind her. She returned a few moments later, a huge grin on her face.

"Congratulations! Your dog is carrying a litter of healthy puppies!"

"Pu-pu-puppies?" the boy gasped. "But--Kurado's a boy!

"No she's not!" Hikaru looked genuinely surprised. "Where'd you get that idea?"

The boy and his dog left, and Hikaru looked around the waiting room. It was empty, so she sighed and turned away.

The door swung open behind her. "Does Shidou Hikaru work here?" A tall, elegant woman strode in the door. Her hair was long, straight, and blue, and Hikaru recognized her in an instant.

"Umi-chan!" Hikaru lunged at her, engulfing her in a big hug. Only then did she look up for a closer look at the woman's face. "You are Umi, right?"

Umi smiled and nodded. "You haven't changed a bit! Still so cute and innocent."

"And you're still as beautiful as ever," Hikaru replied. "Geez, it's been forever since I've seen you! What've you been up to these past few years?"

"I'm working on a degree in fashion design," Umi replied. "I've already had a few job offers, but I want to wait until I've finished."

"And I just read in the paper you're engaged!"

"Yeah, I am." Umi blushed, twirling her million-dollar diamond around her finger. "Um...Hikaru? I know we haven't seen each other in a long time, but would you be my bridesmaid? You and Fuu?"

"Of course, Umi! I'd be honored! Oh, you'll make such a pretty bride..." Hikaru gushed. "And to one of the Kawakamis! This is going to be quite an event!"

"Yeah, I guess it will be," Umi sighed.

"Have you told Fuu yet?" wondered Hikaru.

"No, I haven't gotten a hold of her. I was hoping you had her number."

Hikaru shook her head. "Drat. I wonder..."

"Excuse me!" The door opened and shut again. "Is this--"

"Fuu!" Both Umi and Hikaru lunged to hug their old friend.

"What are you guys doing here!?" Fuu wondered.

"We just sort of ran into each other!" Umi replied, grinning.

"Yeah, isn't this weird? Like the first time we met!" Hikaru added. "I wonder if we've been brought together for a reason."

The three girls looked at each other, but there was no flash of light, no unearthly calling, nothing but an ordinary veterinarian's office. They shrugged and giggled a bit.

"Nope, guess it's just coincidence!" Fuu said.

"Fuu, I'm getting married. Would you like to be my bridesmaid?" Umi asked.

"Getting married?" Fuu replied. "But--what about--"

Umi looked away. "It's all right. We'll never see them again."

Hikaru put a hand on Umi's shoulder. "Umi-chan..."

She faked a smile. "I'm all right, Hikaru. Especially now that we're together, that we can be friends again."

"We're sisters," Fuu put in.

"That's right!" Hikaru said, perking up. "We must protect our sisters!"

They all clasped hands, just like they had so long ago.

Clef frowned as the edge of one of his robes got caught on a splinter of one of the dusty bookcases. "I really don't see why all the information is kept down here," he muttered. "It's most inconvenient."

"You wouldn't find it so if you wore pants like a normal person, Clef," Ferio replied, freeing Clef from the bookcase.

"I do! I have pants under this!" Clef lifted his robes to illustrate the fact. Ferio shrugged.

"Don't you get hot carrying all that cloth around?" he wondered.

"I must! I'm the chief magician of Cephiro! I have to look impressive!"

"To accommodate for your childish stature and facial appearance?" Ferio stepped ahead, leaving Clef steaming. He picked up a book. "Huh. Crystalline Cathedral..." He leafed through a book, and there was a flash of light.

Spires of light, spiraling up towards the sun--carvings of people long dead, places long vanished...something familiar and yet terribly distant...he was lost in the light...

Someone was shaking him. "Ferio! Are you all right?"

He realized he was lying on the floor. "Oh, man," he said, rubbing his head. "What happened?"

Clef sighed in relief. "You collapsed. Been out for ten minutes or so. What did you do?"

"Just...looked at this..." Ferio breathed, giving Clef the book. Clef looked at it, but nothing seemed to happen.

"The Crystalline Cathedral--I've heard that legend somewhere..." Ferio stood up.

"What legend?"

"I think this book is the key to finding the new pillar! Come on! Let's get out of these dark, dingy archives! Presea has to see this!" He tried to step away, but there was a ripping sound as a good half of one of his robes tore away. He blushed.

"Perhaps after a quick trip to the tailor?" suggested Ferio. Clef nodded.

Hikaru put the finishing touches on Umi's hair, a jeweled comb to keep her braided bun in place. "There. Perfect."

"You're absolutely beautiful, Umi," Fuu sighed, handing Hikaru the veil. "Like something out of a fairy tale."

"You look splendid yourself, both of you," Umi replied. "I hope this isn't a case of the bridesmaids being more beautiful than the bride!"

"Don't fish for compliments!" Fuu scolded. "You leave both of us in the dust! Hayase's a lucky man."

"I can't believe everything's come together so well," Umi breathed. "I'm afraid to sneeze for fear it'll all come apart."

"Don't worry about your hair, Umi--there's enough hair spray there to kill a small animal," Hikaru reassured her, as she tried to find the best arrangement of the veil.

"Not just that, I mean the whole wedding. Everything's so beautiful and perfect. I could almost forget that..." Umi sighed and drifted off.

"You don't love him," Fuu replied.

"But I'm not going to find anyone I can love! Not in this world, anyway."

"It's not to late to back out," Hikaru said.

"Are you kidding? My parents would kill me! You know how much they spent on all this?" Umi half-laughed, half-cried.

"Umi..."

"No. I'm going through with this." She smiled. "If I must, I can always get a divorce."

"Give me information on Cephiro," Camaro ordered his computer, sitting down at the console.

"Cephiro," the computer replied.

"Confirmed."

"Processing..." A moment later an image came up on the screen. "Cephiro. Protected for all time by the Pillars, recently assisted by the Magic Knights from another world _(see Earth)_. Not much else known."

"Who governs this planet?" Camaro wanted to know.

"A princess," the computer told him.

"A princess?!" Camry perked up. "I want a princess!"

"Huh. For once, you may have a good idea," Camaro muttered. "If we have the princess in our control, then Cephiro is ours!" He let his head fall back in maniacal laughed, and Camry shrunk away.

"I hate it when he does that," he said, cowering in a corner.

"You should know, Clef--you're older than any of us," Presea said. "The term sounds familiar, but I can't place it."

"It's familiar to me, too," Clef replied. "And it has something to do with the Pillars."

"I know it does," Ferio put in. "I'm not a Pillar, but I am Emeraude's brother. Something in that book reacted to me."

"Maybe because you have Pillar blood," Clef said thoughtfully. "Do you remember your parents?"

Ferio shook his head. "I remember very vaguely people taking care of Emeraude and me, but I know they weren't my parents. And my sister never said anything about it."

"I didn't come to the palace until your sister's time," Clef replied. "You were still very small--your sister set me to looking after you sometimes."

Ferio blushed. "Great, just great. There's nothing more humiliating than being around someone who changed your diapers."

"Except, perhaps, two people who changed your diapers," Presea put in.

Ferio turned even redder. "Not you too! You don't look that old!"

"I'm older than you think, Ferio, but not quite as old as _this_ senior citizen," Presea said, clapping Clef on the back.

"Sheesh, I'm only 750!" he replied, getting a sweatdrop.

"You both make me feel like such a little kid," Ferio sighed.

"Huh...I can remember you being a tiny baby--not much more than a newborn--and yet I can't remember your parents," Presea said thoughtfully. "Isn't that odd? I should've at least known something."

"I'm sure it has something to do with this Cathedral," Clef replied. "The way just the name seems to react with Ferio's Pillar blood proves it."

"But where is it?" Presea wondered. "The book doesn't say, other than that the Pillar knows."

"But we don't have a Pillar," Clef replied, frowning. "Unless Ferio could find it."

Ferio shrugged. "I have no idea."

"You're sure? Not just one hint of direction?" Clef pleaded.

"I know that I'd know it when I saw it," Ferio replied. "Other than that, you might as well ask the Magic Knights."

Clef brightened. "Then we'll summon the Magic Knights," he said.

"Do you, Ryuuzaki Umi, take Kawakami Hayase to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

Umi swallowed. "I...." Her throat was dry, her mouth open, but the words wouldn't come out.

And then they were falling through the sky.


	2. Mad About Umi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mad About Umi

"Is this Cephiro?" Fuu wondered.

"We're back! We're back on Cephiro!" Hikaru gushed. "I don't believe it!"

"Hey, as happy was we are to be back, there better be something to catch us or we won't be able to enjoy it for long!" Umi replied. As she spoke, they landed_--ker-plud!--_on the back of a giant green fish.

"Not Fyula?" Hikaru asked. She listened to the fish for a moment. "Oh! This is Neon, Fyula's son!"

"What on earth is going on?!" Hayase demanded. The three girls turned around to see that they were not alone.

"Huh? What's he doing here?" Fuu wanted to know.

"Yeah, last time it was only us they summoned!" Hikaru said, turning to look at Umi's fiancé. "How did you get here?" she asked.

"That's what I want to know!" Hayase replied, clinging to Neon's back for dear life.

"Hayase, I am breaking our engagement," Umi announced. She tore the million-dollar ring off her finger and threw it as far away as she could.

"Umi--you know how much that ring was worth!?" gasped Hayase.

"I don't give a damn! I can't stand you!" Umi was quite a sight, broiling with anger in her white wedding dress. Hikaru and Fuu looked beautiful but not all that comfortable in their bridesmaid dresses of matching design--but Hikaru's was pink, Fuu's pale green.

"Well, good," Hayase replied. "I didn't want to marry you either." He looked down and gulped. "Someone pinch me." Umi pinched him hard enough to give him a bruise. "Hey, you didn't have to pinch me that hard!" he complained.

"There. Now you see you're not dreaming," his ex-fiancée replied with sarcastic sympathy.

"Up ahead--a palace?!" Fuu gasped. Everyone looked forward to see what she was talking about.

The palace of Cephiro was glittering with light, and they could make out figures waiting for them. "All right!" Hikaru cheered.

"I want to go home!" Hayase wailed.

"Shut up!" Umi replied, slapping him across the face. He lifted a hand to his cheek, where a red mark was already forming.

"We're landing!" Hikaru announced, as the people on the ground ran up to meet Neon's passengers.

"Welcome back!" Presea announced, engulfing Hikaru and Fuu in a big hug while Umi and Hayase continued to bicker.

"Presea!" Hikaru said happily. "I've missed you so much!"

"My, how you girls have grown!" Presea replied.

"Yeah," Fuu replied. "It has been five years, after all."

"Five years isn't so much here on Cephiro," Clef replied. "It's so nice to see you all again."

"Ahh..." Hayase looked down at his shoes. "What's going on here?"

"Yeah, why'd he come with us?" Umi whined.

"Huh? Someone came other than the Magic Knights?" Clef looked Hayase over. "Who are you?"

"I'm Kawakami Hayase, of Tokyo. Who on Earth are you?"

"No one--but on Cephiro, I'm known as Guru Clef."

Hayase fainted.

"Ferio--" Fuu ran back towards the palace to where someone lay sprawled in the grass. She fell to her knees beside him, taking his hand in hers. The others followed her.

"Fuu-chan..." Ferio smiled, but his breathing was heavy and his face slick with sweat.

"What's happened to him?" demanded Fuu, looking to Presea and Clef for an answer.

"He summoned you," Clef explained. 

"How--I thought--" Fuu began, confused.

"He is of Pillar blood, though not as strong as an actual Pillar, so it took a lot out of him."

Fuu looked up at the Guru, confused. "Pillar blood?"

"Ferio is Emeraude's brother," he told her. "He's very brave. The exertion of summoning you could've killed him."

"And you let him try, knowing it could kill him?!" Fuu shouted. "How could you?"

"I'll be all right," Ferio replied softly. "Just let me rest awhile." His eyes closed, and Fuu squeezed his hand.

"Give him a few hours, he'll be all right," Clef told her. Fuu nodded, but didn't get up.

"Emeraude's brother..." she said softly. "That would make him a prince, wouldn't it?"

"You didn't know?" Presea began. Fuu's face told her the answer. "I guess he wouldn't have wanted to tell anyone, huh?" Presea mused.

"Huh?"

"Oh, nothing..." Presea turned to Hikaru and Umi and smiled. "So, why are you all dressed up?"

"Umi was going to get married, but you saved us just in time," Hikaru replied. "Hayase was going to be her husband."

"The man who just fainted over there?"

"That's the guy. I don't see why he came along, though." Umi frowned.

"The only one who could tell you that is currently unconscious," Clef replied, pointing to Ferio. "You'll have to ask him when he wakes up."

"Um, Clef," Hikaru said softly. "Why were we summoned?"

"It's a long story," Clef replied.

"Well, then tell it," Hikaru said, sitting down in front of him for story-time. "We can't do anything if we don't know!"

Clef smiled. "You may be older, but you're still just a girl at heart," he said. Hikaru frowned.

"You really think so?"

"He means you're cute," Umi whispered, and Hikaru was happy again.

"Well, anyway, Emeraude's been dead for five years, but yet no one knows what to do," Clef told them. "Normally a new pillar is chosen while the old one is alive--or so we thought. No one alive now remembers."

"No one? There aren't any records or anything?" Umi wondered. Clef shook his head.

"Just a few references to something called the Crystalline Cathedral," he told them. "The words seem to react with Ferio, but he can't tell us why, other than it has something to do with the Pillars."

"Where is this Cathedral?" Hikaru asked.

"No one has any idea!" He threw up his hands. "All Ferio said was, 'I'll know it when I see it.' Hogwash! What good will that do if we don't even know where to look?"

Ferio's eyes opened, but he looked past Fuu at something distant only his eyes could see. "It's...calling me..." he said softly.

"What is? What's calling you?" Fuu wondered.

Ferio blinked. "I saw the Cathedral again," he said, any sign of his previous distance gone.

"You saw the cathedral?!" Clef ran over to join them. "How? Where?"

"In a dream," Ferio replied. He rubbed his head, sitting up. "I think I nearly lost myself..."

"What do you mean?" Fuu wondered, concerned.

"I dunno. It was like I forgot Ferio for a moment, and just--I saw the Cathedral, and my energy came back."

Clef had a barrage of questions for him, but Ferio was vague in his answers, only half-listening. Finally he had have enough.

"Damnit, Clef, I'm a swordsman, not a lab rat! I'm not just some specimen for you to examine!" he shouted. "Come on, Fuu. This autopsy can wait 'til I'm dead." He led Fuu into the palace, muttering to himself about the absurdity of it all.

*

Umi wandered down the hallways of the palace somewhat aimlessly, beginning to feel fatigued by the weight of her dress. The train looked a little bedragged, but Hikaru had been right about her hair--there was enough hair spray there that it still looked pristine. And altogether, her dress wasn't in that bad of shape--not like she had anything else to wear.

Her meandering led her to a hall of beautiful paintings and sculptures, which she became so engrossed in she didn't hear someone come up beside her.

"Getting married, Umi?"

"Thankfully not," Umi replied. "Had we not been summoned, I would've been Mrs. Kawakami Hayase now, perish the thought." She shuddered at what a near miss it had been.

"You still look...lovely," Ascot said, choosing not to tell her how long he had followed her merely watching before he got up the nerve to speak. Knowing how he stalked her might make her feel a bit odd, even though he meant nothing malicious. "Amazingly so."

Umi blushed. "I...thank you," she told him. "You are Ascot--right?"

Ascot nodded.

"You've grown up."

"As have you," Ascot pointed out.

"I guess." She sighed and looked down. "You don't look so bad yourself, though you do like to hide behind that hair, don't you?" She brushed aside his bangs with her hand so she could she see his eyes. "Much better."

Now Ascot was blushing. "I prefer to hide, thank you," he said. Umi shrugged.

"To each his own," she said, looking at another painting. "All these portraits of Cephirans but not one Pillar," Umi sighed. "I wonder..."

"The Pillars won't let themselves be painted," Ascot explained.

"Why?"

"Because it interfered with something, I think. I wouldn't know, really." He looked away.

"It's all right, Ascot," Umi told him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "At least, I think so." He wouldn't look at her. "What's wrong?"

"You...were going to get married..." he murmured.

"No, it's not like that! It was my parents' idea, really," she explained hastily. "And I assumed I'd never come here again, so I didn't care."

Ascot dared to hope again. "And why did you want to come back here?"

"Because the man for me is here." She grinned and pushed his hair out of his eyes. "And I think he knows who he is," she added, staring into them. Ascot blushed a fiery red.

"Umi...I..."

"We're not leaving until we have some sort of destination--would you meet me here tomorrow at noon?"

"For a date?" Ascot wondered, not believing his ears. Umi nodded.

"That's right!" she replied, and kissed his cheek. 

Ascot watched her leave, his hand to his cheek. Then, when she was a safe distance away, he followed--just to make sure she got to her room all right...

*

"Isn't this a pretty place?" Ferio said softly, as they came into a glassed-in garden. It was huge, twice the size of any garden she'd ever seen, even those that weren't enclosed. Flowers like none Fuu had ever seen were in bloom, and there was a waterfall softly pouring into a stream crossed by a quaint wooden bridge. The grass was as soft as carpet, and the walkways were outlined with stones that seemed to have a faint glow in the evening light. "I was afraid they might've changed it since I left."

"Why would they change something so beautiful?" Fuu breathed, trying to absorb everything.

Ferio laughed. "This is just one of the smaller gardens," he said. "It was my favorite, but hardly anyone ever came here but me."

"This is a small garden?!" Fuu gasped.

"Yeah. The grand garden is ten times this size, at least. You can get lost in it. I used to, but Emeraude could always find me. She liked this garden, too. I suppose that's why it's still here." His tone was rough, as if he were on the edge of tears.

"Ferio, I'm sorry--"  
"Don't be," he replied quickly. "You did what you had to. She wished for death."

There was a long silence between them. "Ferio...I think you owe me an explanation."

Ferio sighed. "Where do I begin?"

"You're Emeraude's brother?" Fuu prompted.

"Yes. My first memories are of her taking care of me--she's several hundred years older than me, you know."

"How old are you?"

"Two-hundred eighty-seven," he replied.

"What?!?" Fuu gasped, shocked.

"By your standards, barely out of my teens," he added quickly. "People age much more slowly on Cephiro."

"Oh." Fuu said, looking rather sad. Ferio brushed a hand across her cheek.

"What's wrong?"

"You make my lifetime sound so...short," she replied, eyes shining with unshed tears.

"As long as you're here, Cephiran aging applies to you, too," he reassured her. "And your being on Earth these five years has given you a chance to kind of--catch up, I guess," he added, smiling.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you're not just a child any more," he replied. "Well, not that you were really that much of a child before, but there's not doubt you've grown up...and yet, you're still the same."

"You haven't changed...much," she added as an afterthought. "Except for all this Pillar stuff."

"Emeraude never really got a chance to explain it to me," Ferio said. "She didn't want to burden me with it if my blood was not strong enough for me to be made Pillar anyway, and when I finally found out, I--I rebelled." His eyes were closed, recalling a time almost a hundred years ago that he had tried to forget.

"What did you find out?" Fuu wondered.

"We were in this very garden," Ferio began. "I came in here and found her meditating, so I watched, being as quiet as I could. She stood up, as if in a dream, and looked at me, though I'm sure she couldn't have known I was there. Her eyes..." He shuddered. "Her eyes looked like she was gone. My sister was gone, and there was some sort of power there I didn't understand. It was like she was looking right through me. She told me that someone had told her she must start teaching me." He looked at the ground. "But I knew I couldn't do what she did, and I told her so. She apologized, and said it wasn't for myself I must know, but for someone else. All this time she just stared at me, or whoever it was behind those eyes was staring at me. I couldn't stand it. I ran away."

"Ferio-san..."

"I'm all right, Fuu. It was a long time ago. But now...I almost find myself wishing that I had listened." 

*

"Do you think the princess is in that castle, Camaro?" Camry asked as they came up upon a huge palace.

"That's what I'm willing to wager," Camaro replied, steering the _Stratus_ in for a closer look. "Take a look over there, will you?" He pointed to a figure making her way through on of the many palace gardens. Her white dress made her easy to spot against the dark ground.

"Oh, she's beautiful! The most beautiful lady I've ever seen!" Camry breathed.

"And look at that dress. Only a princess would wear something like that." Camaro smiled venomously, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. "And no one else is around. This'll be child's play."

They landed the _Stratus_ a good distance away before coming back to find the princess, who luckily had not yet left the garden.

"Hey, you there!" Camry shouted. His brother clamped a hand over his mouth.

"Who the hell are you?" Umi replied sassily. They didn't answer, just grabbed her by the arms.

"You're coming back with us, Princess," Camaro sneered.

"I won't let you do that to her!" a man yelled, popping out from behind a rock. He pointed at them, ready to throw a spell.

"Ascot, no!" Umi yelled, but it was too late. Camaro threw something back at him, something that exploded loudly in a cloud of white. Umi heard him scream, then fall silent. She looked away, tears stinging her eyes.

"No, oh god, no..." she whispered. That couldn't have just happened...Ascot couldn't...no...

Umi didn't fight them as they took her away. She didn't have the heart left. 


	3. A Dream Within A Dream

A Dream Within a Dream

Hikaru heard some sort of noise. "What was that?"

"Sounded like an explosion," Clef replied.

"Was there supposed to be an explosion?"

Clef shook his head. "We'd better go check it out," he said. "Hikaru, Hayase, come with me."

"Why me?" Hayase whined.

"Quit your whining. We may need your help, worthless as it is," Hikaru replied. She was quite sick of listening to Hayase whining as Clef tried to explain everything to him. _What a stubborn, arrogant, annoying, spoiled son-of-a-brat!_

They followed Clef in the direction the blast had come from, into a large formal garden.

"Oh my god," Hikaru said, the first to find Ascot. She covered her mouth with her hands. He lay in a pool of blood and shards of rock.

"There was a boulder here," Clef said, frowning. He looked down at the body. "Ascot..."

"He's breathing...barely," Hayase observed.

"But I think it's too late...he's lost a lot of blood," Clef said, tears coming to his eyes. "Poor Ascot..."

"Healing Wind!" Fuu and Ferio arrived on the scene. Fuu's magic lifted Ascot off the ground, curing the many bruises and lacerations.

"Fuu, you were just in time!" Hikaru cheered.

"We thought he was a goner," added Clef. "What happened?"

"We've got to save Umi!" Ascot shouted.

"What? Where's Umi?" Hikaru demanded.

"Two men came and took her away," Ascot replied, running towards the door they had taken. "I tried to stop them, but they threw some sort of grenade at me."

Clef picked up a shard of rock and sniffed it. "Powdered Lillis," he said. "You're lucky it hit the rock and not you. You'd have been blown apart and nothing could have saved you."

"Ascot, wait!" Ferio took off after him. "There's nothing you can do now. They've had more than enough time to get away."

Ascot clenched his fists. "Why Umi? What'd she do to anyone? Why couldn't they have taken me instead?"

"Good question," Ferio replied.

"What?!" Ascot gasped, turning his anger on Ferio.

"Er, why they took Umi, I mean," he amended quickly.

"Oh." Ascot looked somewhat subdued.

"Yeah, why kidnap Umi?" Hikaru said.

"Because she's pretty?" suggested Hayase.

"Pretty isn't nearly the word..." Ascot sighed, drifting off into fantasy-land. "Beautiful...gorgeous...stunning..."

"Hey, wake up, you." Ferio gave Ascot's head a good-natured whack. "You have no idea why they took her?"

He shook his head. "Nope. Oh, wait--I think one of them called her a princess."

"One of them? How many were there?" Clef wanted to know.

"Just two."

"What did they look like?"

"Well, one of them was rather tall, kinda muscular, with blueish hair, and the other was a little shaggy-looking blond," Ascot told them, still looking rather shaken.

Clef shook his head. "Don't recognize them."

"I still don't understand. Why Umi?" Fuu said.

"Do they know something we don't about her? What if she really is a princess!" Hayase suggested.

"Of what?" Clef replied sternly.

"Never mind. It was just a thought," Hayase sighed. "You are all so closed-minded."

"Who are you calling close-minded?!" Hikaru snapped. "You still think this is all a dream, don't you? Ferio, why did you have to summon him?!"

"Sheesh, I couldn't afford to be picky. All I had the power for was to just grab in your general area and pull you back--and I'm damn lucky I lived through that." He frowned, looking away and muttering to himself. "Damnit, I'm a swordsman, not a frickin' delivery boy."

"So now not only do we have to find a new pillar, we also have to find Umi?" Fuu said. "Could the two be connected?"

"What do you mean?" Hikaru inquired.

"Well, if someone didn't want us to find the pillar, kidnapping the Magic Knights would be a good place to start, wouldn't it?"

"But Umi's a match for anyone!" Hikaru protested.

"In a confining wedding dress, unarmed? Against two? Probably not."

"And I didn't even have time to get a spell off before they nearly killed me," Ascot added. "We've got a serious foe here."

"But why wouldn't he want us to find the Pillar?" Hikaru said.

"I'm not certain, other than to weaken Cephiro for an outside attack," Clef said. "Or maybe it has something to do with who--or what--the Pillars really are."

"Not this again," Ferio groaned.

"I think we need to find this Cathedral," Clef announced.

Ferio looked down. "All I can say is I'll know when we're near it. I might be able to find it, but...I'm not certain."

"Right now, I think what everyone needs is a good night's sleep," Hikaru said. "We'll be able to see this much more clearly with fresh minds in the morning."

"Suppose whoever it is that kidnapped Umi comes after the other two in the night?" Hayase put in.

"Then we won't let them sleep alone. Fuu can stay with me..." Ferio began. Fuu turned a brilliant red.

"Excuse me?" she squeaked.

"No, not like that! You can stay in my room, I'll sleep on the floor. Is that all right?"

"I...guess so," Fuu replied.

"Hikaru can stay with me," Presea said, coming into the room.

"What about me?" Hayase said.

"We'll set up a cot for you somewhere," Clef said.

"A cot!? You expect me to sleep on a fricking cot!? What kind of palace is this?! Don't I at least get a suite?" He kept yelling as Clef led him away.

"See you in the morning, Fuu!" Hikaru said, walking away with Presea.

"Um...yeah, good night," Fuu replied, still feeling just a bit uncomfortable.

"Kill me now," Umi told her captors. "Just get it over with."

"Kill someone as beautiful as yourself? I don't think so," Camry replied.

"We need to hold you for ransom. Don't listen to this insolent twerp," Camaro said.

"What do you want?!"

"Cephiro," Camaro replied, rubbing his hands together with an evil grin.

"Girls!" Camry replied at the same time.

"For now, take the princess in the back with the others," Camaro groaned.

"Princess? What princess?" Umi said.

"Don't play stupid with me, Princess," Camaro shouted. "I am Camaro, future ruler of your world! You will bow to me one day!"

"But I'm really not a princess!" protested Umi.

"Don't speak unless you're spoken to! Camry, take her away."

Camry led her down further into the spaceship, fumbling with keys to unlock the door to a large room filled with girls.

"Here's your new home, Princess," he told her. "Try not to be too uncomfortable." He led her in, left, and locked the door behind him.

"I swear he overcrowds us in here!" a girl with blond pigtails held in place with little buns whined. "It's so hot!"

"Shut up, Usagi, you haven't even been kidnapped before," a girl with short blue hair replied. "Sheesh. Why does every kidnapper who thinks he's worth his salt go after me? What's so special about me? Where's that idiot Ranma to rescue me?"

"Calm down, Akane," Usagi told her.

"So, what's your name, newcomer?" One of the women walked up to greet her.

"Ryuuzaki Umi," Umi told her quietly.

"I'm Aerith. A pleasure to meet you."

"Though the situation is anything but pleasurable," Umi muttered. Aerith giggled.

"You'll get used to it."

"I don't really care."

"Why? What's wrong? Other than that you just got kidnapped--I can see it's more than that."

"I...oh, you wouldn't understand. I just want to be left alone for a while, okay?"

"I think I should sleep on the floor," Fuu said.

"No, that's okay. You're my guest, you can have the bed." Ferio arranged the extra blankets on the floor at the foot of the bed. "Besides, I should be between you and the door."

Fuu shrugged and got into the bed. Ferio made his way into his own little nest.

"I've slept in much worse," he assured her.

Fuu was lulled to sleep quickly, probably due to the comfort of Ferio's bed. Well. It only made sense, since he was a prince and all, that he would have a very comfortable bed. Ferio, a prince...the idea took some getting used to. But as sleep overtook her, she found herself thinking that the bed was more than big enough for two...and blushed furiously at the very idea.

Ferio awoke and looked up to see Fuu's bed empty. He looked around, but she was nowhere in sight. "How did they get her without waking me?" he wondered, but for some reason, he didn't really care all that much. He left the room to walk to the garden he had shown her that day, with only a vague feeling of direction. Inside the garden Fuu knelt in prayer, just like Emeraude had so many years ago.

"You're all right!" he cried, running towards her. Things seemed to be changing around them, until the garden became a snowy valley. The wind blew furiously, but he felt no more than a vague sensation of cold. Fuu stood before him, looking down, avoiding his eyes. Her hands were folded calmly in front of her, her expression showing no emotion.

"You must lead them north," she told him, her tone authoritative. She sounded like Fuu, and yet nothing at all like herself. She seemed to be--shifting, between herself and another woman who was in a way more familiar to him than Fuu, though he was certain he'd never seen her before in his life. "What you seek is here." She swept her arm around to show a wall of mountains.

Ferio awoke with a start. The first thing he did was make sure Fuu was still in her bed--which she was, curled up in the blankets and looking more like a child than she had five years ago.

Just a dream... Though not one to simply discard. At least now he had a direction to find this cathedral. But...did he really want to go?

Every time he even thought of it, something tugged at his identity, something it took all his willpower to resist. Suppose he got too close and it sucked the very soul out of him? Was this mission important enough that he could sacrifice not his life, but his self?

He looked at Fuu again. Was it worth giving her up? He tried to think rationally--on a global scale rather than a personal one--but his emotions got in the way. He didn't know all the people he might save, but he did know her, and that made all the difference. Selfish that may be, but it was the truth.

But what of all the unanswered questions? He'd repressed them, but they nagged him at the back of his mind. Who were his parents, and what made pillars so different from everyone else? And what made him different from both pillars and regular Cephirans? It was obviously a time of change, with the arrival of the Magic Knights and the war for his sister--rest her soul, wherever she is. Normal pillars didn't--but who was he to say what normal pillars did or didn't do? No one remembered the one before Emeraude!

Emeraude said I had to know...I should have listened. Damn, I wasn't cut out for this!

"Ferio..."

The voice shook him out of his trance. "Eh?"

"You should get some sleep. Who knows what will happen tomorrow..." Fuu sighed.

"Then shouldn't you follow your own advice?"

"Can't. I'm just too nervous to stay asleep--excited, maybe."

"Probably some of both. They say one of the worst curses is 'May you lead an interesting life.'"

"I suppose so." Fuu looked up at the ceiling--though it was too dark to see much. "Did you miss me?" she asked out of nowhere.

"Huh?" Ferio fought his urge to doze.

"These last five years, did you miss me?"

"I--what kind of question is that? Of course I missed you. Did you miss me?"

"Yes, very much so." Ferio could barely see her smile. "I think I feel better now. Good night, Ferio."

"Good night."


	4. The Journey Begins

The Journey Begins

"Rise and shine, you two! I made you breakfast!" Hikaru entered the room without bothering to knock, carrying a tray with two covered plates. Of course, Hikaru would have to be a morning person.

"How thoughtful of you," Fuu said, trying to be cheerful over her yawn. "What did you make?"

"Scrambled eggs!" Hikaru lifted the cover off of one of the plates to show off her concoction. Fuu coughed.

"Um, Hikaru...the eggs look kind of...green." she said, as politely as she could.

"What's wrong with that?" Ferio wondered, taking a plate from Hikaru and digging in.

Hikaru smiled as she made her way over to give Fuu the other plate. "What, haven't you ever heard of Green Eggs and Ham?"

Fuu shrugged. "I guess so. Though the ham's not green, it's more of a purple tone."

"Ham? What's that?" Ferio asked around a mouthful.

"It's a kind of meat back home," Fuu explained. She tried a tiny bite of the eggs, then sighed in relief. "Not bad at all. You're a good cook, Hikaru."

Hikaru grinned. "I knew you'd like it if you give it a chance. Would you eat them in a house? Would you eat them with a mouse?"

"I will not eat them in a house. I will not eat them with a mouse. I do not like green eggs and ham. I do not like them, Sam I am."

Ferio looked at the girls with a bewildered expression on his face. "What the heck are you talking about?"

Fuu laughed. "Nothing, don't worry about it."

"Weirdos." Ferio turned his attention back to eating.

"Umi, it's time to wake up." Aerith was shaking her.

"No thank you," Umi replied, burying her head in her pillow. "I think I'll just sleep forever."

"Rise and shine, silly. Don't worry, there's hope for you. Some Shinji guy came and rescued Rei last night."

"Rei...?"

"Rei Ayanami. She was even weirder than you, if that's possible." Aerith smiled.

"I don't care if I'm rescued. I don't want to live." Umi didn't come out from the protection her pillow.

"That's where you're wrong. There's always a reason to live. Is this problem over some guy?" Umi didn't answer. "My first boyfriend left to join SOLDIER. I never saw him again. For a while I was pretty upset. But then, I met Cloud..."

"I'm not getting over this one," Umi replied.

"You'll think that for a while, but please, don't give up hope. Two wrongs don't make a right."

Umi sat up. "You're right--I'm being foolish," she said. "I forgot all about Fuu and Hikaru. There have to be three Magic Knights. Aerith, round up the other girls. I think we can find a way out of here."

"What makes you so sure north is the way to go?" Clef wondered.

"I just--I had a dream, that's all. It made it clear. What else do we have to go on?" Ferio replied. He didn't really feel like discussing the specifics of the dream--especially not in front of Fuu.

"Those mountains have never fully been explored. I guess it only makes sense that something is up there." Clef sighed. "This could have been so much easier. Oh well, there's no point lying around here any longer. We should make preparations for our journey."

"We? You're coming along this time?" Hikaru blurted out. "I mean, not that there's anything wrong with that--"

"Of course I'm coming along. Especially with Umi gone, you'll need all the help you can get. Those mountains are dangerous."

"I think we should concentrate our efforts on finding Umi," Ascot said, frowning. "We need her help."

"But that's probably what they wanted us to do!" interrupted Ferio. "Just when I'm figuring things out, a distractor. Someone doesn't want us getting to that Cathedral."

"Ferio--"

"Who knows that they're not keeping her there?"

Ascot considered for a moment. "I'm coming with you," he said.

"Presea?" Fuu asked.

"Someone's got to hold the castle together, with Caldina and Lafarga running about and--"

"Puu puu puu!" Mokona hopped out of nowhere into Hikaru's arms.

"Mokona!" she exclaimed. "Where have you been? I was looking for you!" Mokona puued something only Hikaru could understand. "Umi? No, Umi's not here... Of course we wouldn't leave without you!"

"So, Hayase, when can you be ready to go?" Clef turned to the young man from Japan.

Hayase jumped. "Me? That could be dangerous! I just want to go home!"

"The only way one summoned from another world can go home is if they help save our world," Clef said. "If you want to go home, this is the only way to do it. Presea, do you have some kind of weapon that will suit him?"

Presea nodded and closed her eyes. A double-handed blade with a curved edge appeared in front of her. She took it out of the air and offered it to Hayase.

"Hey, neat," he said, trying a few swings with it.

"Watch where you point that thing!" Hikaru squeaked, jumping out of the sword's way. "Can't you put that somewhere harmless?"

"That's right! You need armor." Clef lifted his staff and there was a flash.

"What kind of armor is this?" Hayase was wearing an outfit rather similar to Umi's over the clothes he had borrowed from Ferio.

"Oops. Forgot I was working with a male this time." Clef lifted his staff again, and this time Hayase wore more masculine armor. His sword disappeared into the jewel in his glove, much to his disappointment--and Hikaru's relief.

"What about us, Presea?" Fuu asked.

"Yes, of course!" Presea summoned Fuu and Hikaru's swords, and Clef gave them their armor.

"Wow, that sword's huge! Can you actually swing that thing?" Hayase asked Fuu.

"Let me demonstrate," Fuu replied, coming after him.

"Never mind, I trust you, I trust you!" Hayase screamed, running away--a rather ridiculous sight in his shining armor.

"What a coward," Hikaru commented, rolling her eyes. "If he didn't have to get home--"

"But he does, so we better make him a help rather than a hindrance," Clef replied. "Come back, Hayase! You still haven't received your magic!"

"Magic! That's so cool! I get to use magic!" He stuck his tongue out at Hikaru. "Try to make fun of me now, and I'll fry you with a spell! Woo hoo!"

"Spare me," Hikaru muttered.

"Your magic won't just work whenever, you know. Just when you really need it," Clef told him.

"Damn. Where's the fun in that?"

The Guru sighed and extended his staff towards Hayase. "Accept," he yawned.

Hayase was encircled by bolts of lighting that snaked around him in a twisting circle.

"It figures, that since his name has to do with water, he'd have lightning magic," groaned Hikaru. "I thought names were supposed to reflect these things!"

"You read too many mangas," Fuu replied. Meanwhile, Hayase was looking at himself in a mirror.

"All right! Raise the roof! I'm really da bomb now!" Hayase shouted. All of a sudden, Hikaru was at his throat.

"If I ever, ever, ever hear those words out of your mouth again, you will no longer be the _bomb_, you will be the _shrapnel_!" she said. Hayase gulped.

"Can we please talk about something that's not explosive?" Ascot asked meekly.

"Yeah, Umi, it's a great plan, but there's just one little problem--" Akane said. "The Stratus is in the air. There's no way we can get out unless it lands."

"Damn," Umi replied.

"It's still a good plan--they can't keep it in the air forever," Aeka reassured her. "We'll be on the ground in no time!"

"And out of here!" Usagi amended. "But then--how do we get home?"

The door swung open, and Camry came in. The girls hushed up immediately. "Your lunch is ready," he told them.

Camaro stormed in the door behind him. "Damn you, Camry, why are you never where I want you to be? I've been looking for you!"

"I'm sorry, Camaro, but I can't read minds--"

"Don't be impertinent with me, young man. The sensors on the Energy Meter are going off the charts! There's something powerful on this planet."

"That's great, Camaro! And to think the planet will soon be ours."

"Mine, and don't you forget it," Camaro snapped. "Mother will be so proud of me."

"If you don't let me have some, I'll tell mom on you," Camry taunted.

"Tattletale," Camaro muttered. "Fine, I'll give you some, if it'll shut you up."

"Thanks so much, really! Camaro, you're the best brother a guy ever had."

"You disgust me," the younger brother muttered in way of reply. He slunk out of the room in true villainous fashion.

"The Forest of Song," Clef said, pointing to a line of trees on the horizon. "No one has been inside it in all human memory. There's some sort of force, they say, that keeps everyone out but those who were meant to go there."

"Like us, so we needn't worry," Ferio replied.

"Not so fast. Just because we're supposed to go north doesn't mean--"

"Look at that, Clef," Ferio said. He followed the line of trees with his finger. "It extends as far as you can see in either direction. There's no way around. We have to go through it. I had that dream, therefore, we're the ones."

"Are you sure about that? Dreams are funny sometimes..." Ascot said nervously.

"There's no other choice," Ferio replied. He strode forward.

Fuu followed close behind. "Ferio-san--"

"What, are you worried too?" he asked her, as the others followed them.

"No, I'm not, actually. The Magic Knights are so tangled in most destinies that I'm sure we're a part of this one, too. I was just wondering how you're feeling. There's quite a bit of pressure on you."

Ferio rolled his eyes. "Tell me something I don't know. Everyone expects me to know everything until I actually say something, and then they doubt me. It's not fair."

"You're of Pillar blood. They expect you to be more than human."

"You said 'they'. So you don't expect that of me?"

"I expect you to be yourself. The Ferio I knew in the Forest of Silence, for all that now he's a prince and a pillar and who knows what else."

"I haven't changed, really," he replied with a relieved smile. "The situation has changed, but I haven't."

They were coming up on the first few trees now. "That's good to hear," Fuu replied. "I--"

"What is your business here?" a voice asked out of the treetops. They looked for the speaker, but couldn't find her.

"Who are you to ask?" Ferio called back.

"Who am I to ask, you say?" the voice laughed. It was female, and rather--coquettish, in a way.

"That voice is so familiar..." Clef was muttering to himself.

"I'm the Byrde of this forest. The protector, one might say. Tell me what business you have here."

"Show yourself!" Clef shouted.

"As you wish." A figure jumped down in front of them, her red hair flopping in front of one of her eyes. She wore a blouse that fell over her shoulders and a short, black skirt. Her eyes went wide with shock for a moment, but she regained her composure with frightening speed. "Well...Guru Clef. Fancy meeting you...here."

"You know this person?" Hikaru whispered.

Clef was having a much harder time recovering from his shock. "I...well, um..."

"Don't be shy, Clef. Never knew you to be tongue-tied before."

"This is...Miss Mazda was a student of mine, a long time ago..." Clef stuttered.

"Oh please, quit pretending you don't know me. You could at least call me Miata. You can't have forgotten everything."

"Yes...Miata," Clef replied, nodding. "It's been a long time since you...studied with me."

"Studied? You say that as if it were all we did!" Miata laughed again. "But you still cannot remember. It is not yet time--" She cut off, and shook her head vehemently. "Well, I see you're the ones I can let pass through here, so I'd best be going. But rest assured we will meet again. Ta-ta!" Miata leapt back into the treetops.

"Well, she was quite a character," commented Ascot. "I think she's scarier than any monster we could have faced!"

"Miata hasn't changed a bit," Clef murmured, shaking his head. "I'd give anything to know what she has to do with all this--but I don't remember."

"Hey Clef, what's this about your relationship with her?" Hikaru inquired slyly.

"Well, I...we..."

"Come on! We want all the juicy details!"

"I don't think that's any of your business, Hikaru!" Clef said, his face turning a brilliant pink.

Ferio clapped Clef's back. "I didn't know you had it in you, old man."

"Cut it out already!" the magician shouted. "It was all a long time ago, okay? Leave me alone!"

"If you insist," Ferio said, pulling away. The conviction in Clef's voice surprised him--there was more to this than an old relationship gone bad. "Sorry."

"It's all right." Clef looked up at the trees, his expression thoughtful. _Just on the edge of my memory...why can't I grasp it?_

"Are you going to tell us, Mr. Clef?" Hikaru wondered softly.

"Just...the whole place feels like her. It's like an extension of Miata. I have a feeling I should know why, but..." He trailed off. "Never mind. It's not important."

They made camp soon after (thanks, Mokona!), but were awakened by Hayase's screams.

"If something's captured him, let them have him," Hikaru muttered, barely awake.

"That'd be unfair to whoever captured him," Fuu replied.

"I heard that!" Hayase shouted.

"Damn, he's alive." Hikaru rolled over and went back to sleep.

Fuu was the one who got up and made her way over to find out why he was screaming. "What is it?" she asked irritably.

"I hear something," Hayase replied. "Music."

"It's just your imagination, or birds or something. Go back to sleep."

Ferio, whose bedroll was next to Hayase's, looked up. "I hate to admit it, but now I hear it too," he said. "Be quiet for a moment."

A weird, haunting melody was just barely audible. Fuu made a mental note that if--er, when they found Umi, she would tell her how loudly Ascot snored.

"I think I should go check it out," Hayase said, getting up and beginning to pull on his armor--a very awkward attempt.

"You do that. Don't come back," Hikaru muttered.

"Very funny, Hikaru!" Hayase shouted back, losing his balance and falling in a clatter of metal.

"No! The cheesecake! Don't shave the cheesecake!" Ascot cried, coming awake with a start. He looked around and blushed. "Uh...never mind," he said sheepishly, turning over to go back to sleep.

"Uh-huh." Ferio rolled his eyes.

"Well, I guess I don't really need that armor." Hayase stood again, trying to regain some dignity. "Have no fear, I will go see what is afoot." He looked just about as ridiculous as he sounded as he strode out.

"Strange boy," Ferio muttered.

Hikaru noticed that Clef's eyes were still open, and knelt down beside him. "Are you okay, Mr. Clef?"

"I'm fine," he replied. "It's just that I have the feeling I've been here before. Everything feels so familiar here..."

"You're imagining things," Hikaru replied. "No one's ever been here before."

"But I have!" Clef shook his head. "And I can't remember. There are years of my life that I don't remember at all, Hikaru. And Ruby..."

"Who's Ruby?" Hikaru interrupted.

Clef rubbed his face with his hands. He looked as if he were in agony. "It's a nickname for Miata. I don't remember anyone calling her that, but it belongs to her."

"Well, I think you just need some sleep." She patted his shoulder, smiling sympathetically. "Things will look brighter in the morning."

"I hope so..." Clef replied, his voice so soft it was barely audible. "I sure hope so."

"Eh?" Miata looked up from her guitar-like instrument. "Oh, it's you," she sighed.

"And just who were you expecting?" Hayase replied saucily.

"Not expecting, precisely. I know better than that," Miata sighed, looking up at the stars.

"Just who are you, anyway?" Hayase wondered, wishing he had his armor. He looked so much more impressive with it.

"Didn't I tell you? I am the Byrde, the guardian of the Forest of Song. The last of my line. I am Miata."

"What makes you so sure?"

"That I am Miata?"

"No, that you are the last."

"Well, there's no point in me guarding the forest once you see what is on the other side, right?" Miata replied with a wink.

"So, just what are you hiding over there? More importantly, what's the quickest way to it? I want to go back to Tokyo!"

Miata smiled. "Wouldn't you like to know!" She laughed and bounded into the treetops.

"Damn her!" Hayase muttered. He turned around to return--

And saw that he was in a place completely unfamiliar to him. And utterly, completely lost.


	5. Searching

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Searching

"The nuisance is not yet back," Ascot noted. "D'you think something happened to him?"

"Serves him right," Hikaru muttered, biting into an apple she'd received for breakfast, courtesy of Mokona.

"Don't you think we ought to look for him?" Fuu wondered.

"What? Look for him, when we haven't found Umi?" Ascot gasped.

"I know you dislike him, but we really ought to find him," Clef said. He was met by groans all around. "I'm sorry! But he at least deserves a chance to go home. And to abandon him will be cruel. With Miata's sense of humor, he'll end up with us anyway, and even whinier than before."

"I suppose..." Ferio replied grudgingly. "He can't have gotten too far. We'll split up and look. I'm taking Fuu."

"Puu puu!" Mokona jumped into Hikaru's arms. Ascot and Clef looked at each other.

"Guess that leaves us," Ascot said.

"So it does," Clef agreed.

"So, where do we begin?" wondered Hikaru.

"Let's see. You and Mokona take that path," Clef said, pointing. "Ascot and I will search the area over here, and Ferio and Fuu can look in that direction. Meet back here at sundown. I'll check up with Mokona from time to time, and as for you two--" He turned to address Fuu and Ferio, but they had already started to go. He could still see them through the dense forest, but it was doubtful they'd hear what he said. "Well, we'll see you later."

"If you come across his corpse, let me know so I can dance on it!" Hikaru said gleefully.

"Puu?" Mokona replied, its tone questioning.

"Sorry. I guess that was a bit morbid, wasn't it?"

The two of them headed out towards their chosen area.

*

"It's so quiet here. You'd think this was the Forest of Silence, but that was always noisy because of some monster," Fuu sighed.

"Be on your guard," Ferio replied. "I don't trust this place one bit."

"I thought you said that we were meant to be here."

"That doesn't mean it's safe to pass through. We'll be tested, I'm sure of it. Be ready."

"Why are you so sure of it?" Fuu wondered, stepping carefully over a protruding root.

"Call it Pillar's intuition." His tone implied that he did not want to speak more of it.

"You're not intending on looking for Hayase, are you," Fuu said, changing the subject.

"If we are meant to find him, he will come to us. But I doubt if that's what will happen here." Ferio looked around warily. "Though I have no idea what will. I don't like this place, and I don't like its caretaker!"

"You used to like me just fine," the voice came from above. "Of course, you were too young to know any better." That laughter again.

"Speak of the devil..." Ferio muttered.

"You know her?" Fuu asked.

"No!"

"She said she knew you..." Fuu replied, frowning.

"I doubt if he remembers me," Miata said, hopping down in front of the two of them.

"Look, lady, I haven't seen you before in my life!" Ferio insisted. Miata laughed again.

"Oh, that's where you're wrong, my dear! Oh, Emeraude never told you anything, did she? This will be so much more amusing!" She turned to Fuu. "As for you, Magic Knight, take good care of little Ferio--we are the same, he and I, in some ways. And I took care of him, once, long ago, and I'd hate to see any harm befall him. So long!" Miata vanished.

Fuu looked up at Ferio. "Little Ferio? Taking care of you?"

"She's full of it," Ferio muttered.

"You don't suppose that she could be your mother, then?"

Ferio shook his head vehemently. "No way. I believe I would know my mother when I see her. Besides, Miata isn't old enough to have given birth to Emeraude, too."

"She could be much younger than she looks. I mean, look at Guru Clef!"

"I really don't think so, Fuu. She said she was Clef's former student, remember? And that the two of them...it still seems odd. I can't picture Clef..." Ferio's eyes squinted shut and he shook his head in disgust.

"Miata is strange indeed. If only Clef had told us more about her..."

"What good would it do? I just want to get this over with as soon as possible."

"You would, wouldn't you," Fuu replied softly, allowing only a hint of bitterness to enter her voice. Ferio turned to look at her.

*

Clef and Ascot didn't speak to each other, only shouting "Hayase!" out on the wind. Ascot's throat was beginning to go raw.

"You think we should go back and check with the others?" he asked.

"I...well, I can use Mokona to speak to Hikaru, at least, if we stop a moment," the Master replied, and Ascot nodded. Clef's eyes took on a disorienting, far-away look, and his staff flared. He spoke softly into the air.

"Mokona, will you speak to Hikaru for me, please?" A pause. "Well, why not? Oh, I see...you have? Why not? What's Miata got to do with it!? She--I understand. Good-bye." He snapped back into the real world, leaving Ascot a bit in awe. "They've found him. Or they're close," Clef explained. "But we're not to go back for them. We have to make our way through the forest separately, each of us passing a different test. With Miata's sense of humor..." He shuddered.

"What?" Ascot prompted him.

"Back when there was a school for magicians, she was the class troublemaker. When she wasn't sleeping, she was getting into fights, or getting drunk. She matured some before she..." He gulped, closing his eyes for a moment and shaking his head. "...But she's still a practical joker, I'm sure of that. And she'll be having the time of her life now, coming up with 'tests'. Her magic's powerful enough to make them work, too--and weird enough that we can't do anything about it."

"What do you mean?" Ascot replied, now interested.

"Well, everyone in Cephiro's magic is slightly different, though most of it is similar enough to be lumped into groups. I've made something of a study of it. Pure magic is what I have, and elemental is a division of pure, and that's what the Magic Knights and Hayase can use. Yours and Presea's are both in summoning-creation, as you both--"

"Um, Clef, get on with it," Ascot yawned. "What's this got to do with anything?"

"I was just getting to it," Clef replied, with no small him of resentment in his tone. "Anyway, from what I've been able to tell, Miata's magic doesn't fall under any of those categories. If anything, it's like Pillar's magic, which is more pure will."

"And you can't counteract that?" Clef merely shook his head. Ascot cursed softly.

"All you can do is be on guard at all times. Nothing will be impossible, but..."

"Have you so little faith in me, my dear Guru Clef?" Miata stepped seemingly out of nowhere, her one visible eyebrow raised. "I intend to keep my promises, but I have business with your companion to attend to first."

"Do your worst, Miata! I'm not afraid!" Ascot replied boldly.

"My worst? You, of all people, have the least to worry about from me! I shall be leaving you to your own wits! Come along!" She grabbed Ascot's hand, and they flew upwards with frightening speed. Clef watched them until they were just dots against the sun.

__

Keep her promises? What on earth is she talking about?

Why can't I remember?

*

Mokona bounced ahead of her, and Hikaru practically had to run to keep up with the little bounding marshmallow. She was quite disoriented by now, but Mokona seemed to know the way and it had never been wrong before. She stopped to rest in a clearing...

...and found herself pounced upon.

She didn't call on her sword, as much as she might have liked to, only counted to ten to keep her temper down.

"Oh, Hikaru," gushed the simpering affair that had latched itself onto her, "I've never been so happy to see you! I thought I was lost forever!"

"Oh, you poor thing," Hikaru replied, only half-sarcastically. She could see that Hayase really had been terrified, and that his happiness to see her was genuine. "You all right?"

"No," he sniffed. "I fell through a thicket that was all-over thorns, and I'm all scraped up. It hurts!" She could see that there were some scratches, but nothing worth so much whining. Her sympathy for him lessened.

"It'll only hurt more if you keep on whining about it," she told him gruffly. "Well, we'd best go find the others." She looked for Mokona--and saw the little powder-puff talking to Miata.

It seemed pleased--if the noisy, ecstatic "Puu Puu Puuuuu!" was any indication of its sentiments. Miata put him down and hopped away.

"We need to go back to the others," Hikaru said. Mokona shook his head. "What's wrong?"

Mokona made a little shrugging motion with his arms, then hopped around in circles for a bit. "What, are you lost?" Hikaru asked.

Mokona nodded.

"Just what I needed to hear..." she muttered. And for the second time, Hayase fainted.


	6. A Match for Anything

A Match for Anything

In a few minutes, Hayase regained consciousness. "You were just kidding, about being lost, right?" he laughed, sounding somewhat less than sane.

"I wasn't kidding, you jerk," Hikaru spat. "Mokona hasn't got a clue."

Hayase grabbed Mokona by the ears, shaking him madly. "Stupid little rubber rabbit! Where the hell are we?"

Hikaru snapped the terrified Mokona out of his hands, and cuddled the poor whimpering animal. "It's not his fault! If you hadn't have wandered off in the middle of the night, this would never have happened!"

"Well, if you hadn't brought me to Cephiro, I wouldn't have wandered off!" Hayase shouted back.

Hikaru turned her back. "I had nothing to do with it," she muttered. "If I had my way, you'd be back in Tokyo right now, and I would be where I belong, with the other Knights."

"Well, I'm not! And you can't just turn your back on me! Hey! Come back here!" Hikaru was walking away.

"I don't need your help. I can find my way out of the forest quicker without you," she replied. "If you want to follow, shut up and keep up!"

"You can't just order me around! I'm a Kawakami!" Hayase ran after her. He stopped short when Hikaru whirled to face him.

"That means nothing here. However, you are still a whiny brat, and I'm sick of it. I honestly don't give a damn what happens to you."

"Well--I don't give a damn what happens to you, either!" Hayase shouted back. "I have my own sword! I have magic! Ha! Maybe if you're lucky, I'll be waiting for you at the exit! See ya!"

Hayase looked over his shoulder, panting. How could you be sure something was gone, when you weren't sure it was there in the first place? It was the third such shadow that had chased him off course that day--not that he had much of a course to follow in the first place. The forest seemed to loom around him, and he was constantly checking his back.

Now he heard something else crashing through the brush. He brandished his sword and cried out, "Whoever you are in there, I just want you to know that I don't mean you any harm, so you can just stay away from me, especially if you're a monster. I'm sure we'll be much happier that way…"

"Hayase?" It was Hikaru who emerged from the bushes, looking as worn and harried as Hayase felt. "You have any idea where we are?"

Hayase shook his head. "Like I'd tell you."

"Like I need your help!" She turned to leave, but Hayase grabbed her arm.

"Wait!" he said.

"I'm not going to be your baby-sitter, Hayase." She turned around to lecture him. "I thought we went over this before. We should leave each other alone." Then she noticed that Hayase's face had gone pale, and his eyes were wide.

"Hikaru…"

"What is it, Hayase? Quit blubbering like an idiot." She put her hands on her hips and stared at him, annoyed.

"Hikaru—there's a—there's a—" Now he was pointing with a shaking finger, and Hikaru looked behind her—just as a giant tentacle lifted her off the ground. She shrieked, and the monster roared.

"Oh man, what am I—what can I do?" Hayase stammered, looking around desperately. "Someone help!"

All of a sudden, Miata was in a tree behind him. "You've got a sword, dimwit," she said lazily. "Use it."

"I…I can't! It's so much bigger than me…"

"Coward!" Hikaru shrieked. "You…damned…coward!"

"It's up to you," Miata said. "Or are you going to let yourself be what she called you? Are you a coward? Are you too arrogant to do what's right? Or will you put your stupid feud behind you? Choose carefully, or you will not get out of this forest alive!" Miata vanished.

Hayase's breathing came in heavy gasps, but he felt stronger than he'd ever felt before. "I…am…not…a…coward!" He dashed towards the monster, slashing off the tentacle that held Hikaru. The monster screamed in pain, and Hikaru was free, holding her sword.

"Let's take care of this thing!" Hikaru said.

"Right!" Hayase replied with a short nod, and they leapt at the creature together, slashing it apart. 

"All right!"

"Not bad," Hikaru replied, looking at Hayase with respect—and surprise—in her eyes. "Not bad at all."

"Same to you," Hayase replied. He clasped her hand and they smiled at each other, but then Hikaru's expression turned to worry.

"Another one!" she cried, pointing up into the sky, where a flying monster was swooping down towards them.

Tiny bolts of lightning began crinkling between Hayase's fingers. "Thunderstorm!" he cried out, sending bolts of white lightning at the creature.

"Red lightning!" Hikaru added, and her magic assailed the monster as well. The bolts of red and white surrounded the creature, and it fell lifeless to the ground.

"We got it!" Hikaru cried, doing a little victory dance. Hayase grinned and gave her a high five.

"I think we could be a match for anything, now," he said.

"You know, you're not so bad when you aren't whining," Hikaru said. "Let's find a way out of this place."

"Puu puu-puu-puu puu!" Mokona hopped out of the brush cheerfully.

"The little marshmallow decided to hide from the fight, huh?" Hayase said.

"Mokona!" Hikaru said, but he hopped right by her and jumped into Hayase's arms.

"Oh, hello!" Hayase said. "Have you figured out a way out of this place?"

"Puu!" Mokona replied, and a beam shone from his forehead.

"It must be that way!" Hikaru cried.

"Finally!" Hayase replied, as they ran in the direction of the light. "You know something, Hikaru? It's strange," Hayase said to her as they were running, "but when we were separated, I always felt like there were things watching me, but now it's like they're gone!"

"That's funny—now that you mention it, I felt the same way!" Hikaru said.

"Now, why do you suppose that is?" Hayase asked.

"It's probably that Miata," Hikaru replied. "We were supposed to pass some test to get through, right? It must have been those monsters we fought. That's strange, though—I've fought more difficult battles. When we worked together, though, those were easy! I expected more of a challenge."

"Well, maybe it wasn't the battles themselves that were testing us," Hayase replied thoughtfully.

"What do you mean?" Hikaru asked.

"I mean, maybe the test was to make us get past our fears and anger and force us to work together."

"Puu-puu puu!" Mokona replied cheerfully, nodding his little head. A light broke through ahead of them.

"The exit!"

"All right!" They threw their arms around each other at once, then blushed, pulled away, and shook hands.

"From now on, we work together," Hikaru said.

"Together," Hayase agreed with a short nod.

The ground beneath them began to shake, and they looked around them for a clue as to what was happening. Mokona even looked frightened, so it wasn't another plot of Miata's.

"Magic Knight," a vaguely feminine voice that seemed to come from everywhere whispered, and Hikaru pulled her hand away from Hayase's grasp. "Come to me, Magic Knight…"

"Where are you going? Hikaru!" He ran after her, but she walked away as if in a trance. The voice sounded like bells, or ringing crystal.

"Return…to the Cathedral…"

"Hikaru, _no!!!_" Hayase cried.


	7. Above the Forest

Above the Forest

"What the hell is that?" Ascot wondered, looking at the huge structure that loomed miles over the surface of Cephiro.

"It's Camaro's spaceship," Miata replied. "What, haven't you seen a spaceship before?"

"I haven't," Ascot replied, "but that still is no explanation for why you brought me here. Would you please remedy this situation?"

"The girl that they took is your lady, is she not?" asked Miata. Ascot gasped.

"Umi's there? On that ship? Alive?!"

Miata nodded. "But this is as far as I go. Once you're in that ship, you're on your own, but if you can get her to the north side of the forest, safely, you will have proved yourself as worthy as any test I could give."

"But--but--that place is huge!" protested Ascot. "How will I even find her? And how can I do that alone?"

"That's for you to figure out. That is your challenge," Miata replied.

"I want you to know, Miata, that I'm not doing this for you, or your little test," Ascot said firmly, "I'm doing it for Umi, and if this is another of your pranks you are going to be in deep trouble."

"Oh, Umi is on that ship, upon my full honesty," Miata replied. "It is your feelings for her, and not my test, that will give you strength. I couldn't care less 'bout what you think of me--I don't give a damn about any of you, except--" She bit her lip. "I just want this over with. If you all succeed in a worthy trial, I can go home and lead a normal life." Even through her biting tone, Ascot could hear a tang of bitter sadness in her voice. "Oh well, we've both got work to do. See that shadow there? You can get in through that vent. Be careful. Ta-ta." Miata plunged downward, leaving Ascot floating.

Walking on air took some getting used to, somewhere between swimming and walking. It took Ascot some time to get to the vent Miata had spoken of, and even more to figure out how to remove the screen over it. When he finally figured it out, the spaceship had moved to hover over area he'd never seen before--he should have listened when Caldina told him to take Cephiran geography!

Not that it mattered, once he got inside the ship. He crawled inside, glad for the familiar feeling of having something beneath him other than air--though how the spaceship stayed afloat was a mystery he tried not to give too much thought. The vents were a veritable maze, and he panicked--how would he find his way to where they kept Umi?

"Astra, I summon you," he murmured, afraid to raise his voice over a whisper. The "monster" he summoned was actually an air-elemental, invisible to anyone that she didn't want to see her. Ascot did not fall into this category, as she materialized in front of him as quietly as he could wish, and hovered, waiting for more instructions.

"I want you to find out for me where these tunnels lead," he whispered. "Anything you hear, let me hear, and let me know where. Understood?"

Astra whooshed away silently, dividing among the many passages, and Ascot waited.

__

Interlude, back in the Palace of Cephiro:

"Princess? We aren't missing any princess! What kind of stupid ransom notice is this anyway?"

"...They haven't responded to the ransom notice yet. I wonder why? We stole their princess!" Ascot recognized the voice as the meeker-looking man of the two that had stolen away Umi, and caught his breath. He hadn't been sure Miata was telling the truth before--now he knew she was. It was a relief, but it also set his nerves on edge--the stakes were much higher now.

"You fool! It means they intend to rescue her!" This was the aggressive one, he was sure of it.

"But I thought the Stratus was an impenetrable flying fortress!" _This way_, Astra murmured, and a faint line of red stretched away from him down one of the tunnels. He began crawling, and muttered a curse as his hat fell off. He tried to catch it, but it fell through the wide grating to land on the floor of a hallway about ten feet below.

__

Great, just great, Ascot, he thought. _Why don't you just leave them a card, saying, "Hello, I've penetrated your fortress. I intend to rescue the girl you've stolen, and I would prefer that you not get in my way. Very sweetly yours, Ascot." _The argument continued.

"Then why do heroes get in and take your girls all the time?"

"Oh, shut up, Camaro."

"Don't you dare talk back to me!"

"Huh?" Umi saw something lying on the floor in the adjacent hallway. Camry had assigned her to cleaning up the Stratus (which had been Usagi's job before she was rescued by some guy wearing a top hat and a cape), but there was very little to do, really. But there was something over there.

She was not allowed in that particular hallway, but it was not so far that she could not reach it with more than a couple steps--which she did, and gasped at what she found.

"Ascot..." she murmured_. Could he actually be alive? But no one could have survived...no!_ He must be alive, and he was on the Stratus. She took his hat with her, smiling--but also feeling tears trickle from her eyes.

"Whatcha got there, Umi?" Aerith asked slyly.

"Oh, it's nothing," Umi replied, her voice airy and light.

"You've got that look in your eyes, Umi, I can tell. You're love stricken. What's up?"

"He's on the ship," Umi replied. "I don't know how, but I found this." She showed Aerith the hat.

"Who's here?" Aerith asked, then shook her head. "Don't tell me. Your boyfriend. I should have known. If only my boyfriend would show up sometime soon…"

Right on cue, a man with spiky blond hair carrying a sword that seemed far too large for him dashed in, swept Aerith off her feet, and ran down the hall with her.

"See you around, Umi!" Aerith cried cheerfully. Umi shrugged, it didn't matter much to her. Ascot was alive, and he was here, and he was going to rescue her!

When he heard _her_ voice, he had stopped in his tracks. He couldn't move. Miata had told the truth—Umi really was here! He could have shouted in joy, though he realized at the last moment that might not be a good idea. Instead, he followed the tunnels to where he'd heard her voice, and looked down through the grate to see her, holding his hat and smiling. He watched in silence for a long time, so happy to see her alive and well—so happy to see her again at all. So happy to see her holding his hat like it was the most prized thing in the world. He'd never loved anyone so much, and never would.

"Umi…" he whispered.

"Ascot!" Her voice came out a burst of joy, and she looked around for him. "Um, Ascot?"

"I'm up here," he replied. "Above you."

She looked up through the ceiling grate of the vent to see his face, framed by the same hair that was always falling in his eyes. "Ascot…"

"I'm going to get you out of here," he said softly.

"I was so sure you were dead," she replied, tears again glistening in her eyes. "I can't believe I'm seeing you—alive—"

"Your friend Fuu healed me, just in time," Ascot replied. "They're all so worried about you, Umi. They all miss you."

"What about you, Ascot?" Umi replied softly. "Did you…miss me?"

"I felt like I had lost part of my soul," Ascot replied, his voice shaking. "I was so worried about you, I couldn't ever stop thinking about you…I knew I had to save you, because I couldn't go on living without you."

"Ascot…Ascot, I…I feel that way, too."

Ascot reached down through the grating towards her, only able to reach far enough to touch the fingers of the hand she stretched out to him. They looked at each other for a long time.

"You wait for me," Ascot said. "I'm going to get you out of here, and then—well, we've got to get to the Crystalline Cathedral, with everyone else, but after that…"

"Yes?"

"Well, er—we'll figure something out."

"Yes, Ascot…something." She smiled at him, and Ascot felt his face grow hot. "Is there some way I can help you get us out of this thing?"

"Well—actually, I think there just might be…"

Camry entered the room his "harem" had once occupied and sighed. "Gone, all of them, gone!" He looked to Umi, sitting alone and reading. "All except for you, my beautiful princess."

"Eh, I'm not half as pretty as my sisters," Umi replied absently. "I was always the plain one."

"S-s-sisters?" Camry gasped.

"You didn't know? I have two sisters, and they were always outshining me…but that's not important. The other two princesses are back in the castle, and I'm here, and there doesn't seem to be too much I can do about it." She pretended to read her book, but watched Camry's reaction over the top of the pages. A grin was spreading across his face, but it was then replaced by a frown.

"But—you were the only princess at the Palace—"

"That's because my sisters were at the Cathedral to the north. North of the Forest of Songs." She sighed. "Of course, it doesn't matter. You probably have more important things to do than—"

Camry was already running away, half-skipping in glee. "Camaro!" he cried. "Camaro, Camaro! We have to land the ship! There are more princesses!"

"All right," Umi murmured. "Ascot, it worked!"

The ship landed on the edge of a huge lake in the center of a field covered in snow. Umi and Ascot climbed out cautiously, looking around. "Looks clear," Ascot said. "Umi?"

Umi was walking forward as if in a dream, ignoring the cold and blowing snow.

"Magic Knight," a voice breathed. "Come to me, Magic Knight…"

"Where are you going? Do you hear me? Umi!"

"Return…to the Cathedral…"


	8. Cressida

Cressida

"I need to rest, Ferio. It's getting late." Fuu leaned against a tree, breathing heavily and trying not to show it. Her hair was hanging limp with sweat, and she wiped her forehead on her sleeve.

"All right. But just for a little bit," Ferio said sternly. He was even more sweaty than she was, but his breath was normal. He sat down against the same tree, and Fuu slid down to sit next to him.

"How long are we going to--" she began, but heard a soft snoring coming from his direction, and smiled. So maybe he wasn't as eager and ready as he thought he was. Good. Fuu didn't think she could have taken another step that night anyway. She leaned her head against his shoulder and soon she, too, was asleep.

When her eyes opened again, it was pitch black in the Forest of Songs. The dense trees obscured any starlight that might be shining above them, and the only thing she heard was Ferio's soft, steady breathing, and--water?

She stood quietly, so not to wake him, and followed the sound until she reached a place where a crystal-clear brook cascaded into a small pond, which reflected the starlight back at her. The waterfall plunged over an overhang of only about five feet or so, and the stones near it were slick with moss. Seeing the clear water reminded her how sweaty she was--but it was too late to take a bath now. She returned to Ferio--who appeared to still be asleep. Fuu settled down beside him again--gingerly, in hope of not disturbing him.

"You left me," he murmured to her disappointedly, pulling her closer to him gently.

"I came back," Fuu replied.

"You did," Ferio said, and kissed her cheek with that same gentleness. There was nothing unchaste in the way that they lay there together, only two people enjoying a sort of utter contentedness. No more than that was needed.

Morning came, illuminating them in the dappled light typical of the forest. Birds sang in the treetops, and the gentle bubbling of the brook and waterfall could still be heard.

"Good morning, Fuu-chan." Ferio placed a gentle kiss on her nose, and Fuu's eyes fluttered open.

"Ferio..." she murmured, pulling his face down to hers for a kiss that wasn't so gentle. She released him from it, looking up at him with a dreamy smile. "Good morning."

Ferio stood up and stretched. "Let's hope we can get out of here today," he said, sounding somewhat uncomfortable. Her kiss had rattled his nerves much more than he liked to admit.

"I don't know about you, but I need to bathe. I found a place that looks clean, so I am going to take a bath. You may take one when I am finished, but you will not peek." She looked at him sternly. "Do you understand me?"

"I hear you loud and clear," Ferio replied. "Where is this place you've found?"

Fuu led him to the pond, and said to him, "Go away. I will call you when I am done. Do not peek!"

Ferio shrugged and began to walk away. However, he doubled back quietly when he was out of her sight--not intent upon watching, of course, but rather to make sure nothing bad happened to Fuu. And if he did happen to see a bit of her--

Well, what Fuu didn't know wouldn't hurt her, right?

Fuu looked around herself nervously before removing her boots, and then she heard a sneeze. She jerked and looked around anxiously, and took in a blur of movement behind a tree. "Why you--" she began, and Ferio felt himself lifted up in the air and floating towards her. It confused him for a critical moment--wouldn't she want him to go away?--and then--

SPLASH!

He plunged into the pond.

"Serves you right!" Fuu shouted at him, but he didn't surface. Bubbles and ripples were all that was there to show he'd went under. "Ferio? This isn't funny, Ferio!"

And something grabbed her ankle and she shrieked as she was pulled into the water as well. Now Ferio was laughing, and Fuu was sputtering something at him, so angry that her words wouldn't come out straight.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay!" Ferio said.

"Oh, sure you did!" Fuu used a gust of wind to send a wave at him, trying desperately to keep from grinning, but she could feel a smile creeping at the corners of her mouth.

Ferio splashed back at her, squinting and shielding his face from her. "Don't you trust me?"

"Of course I don't! Do you think that I'm stupid?"

"I don't know. I can think of times--"

"You--" Fuu lunged at him, with the intent of dunking him, but he was a better swimmer than she was and hastily stroked away, then captured her and held her underwater for a moment. When he let her up, she spit a stream of water in his face. "You are the cruelest person I've ever met."

"Oh, I'm honored," Ferio replied. He took her glasses and swam over to place them gently on the shore. "I wouldn't want you to lose those--as 'cruel' as it would be to do so."

"You are evil personified! Trying to peek at an innocent young woman--" she scolded, trying to keep his attention on her while she used her wind powers to build a huge wave behind him. "You should be ashamed of yourself!"

"I was only--" Ferio began, and the wave washed over him. He went down with a squawk, and didn't come up.

"Come on, Ferio, that's enough." No answer; Fuu began to grow nervous. "Ferio?"

That was when something came up from beneath her, sweeping her up into the air and laughing as she, for a moment, flew. She used that moment to grab an airlift to pick her up higher--it was amazing how naturally her magic was coming to her now--and released it to fall in a cannonball to create as huge a splash as she possibly could.

Ferio flinched as she hit the water, and when she came up again it was towards the other side of the pond, near the waterfall. She rested there, treading water lazily to allow herself to catch her breath. Ferio shook water from his hair and looked at her, and she smiled back at him. He took that as an invitation to swim over to her, and kissed her once before she ducked underwater again.

She did not come up, but Ferio wasn't worried--he heard her giggling, somewhere. Behind the waterfall.

"Now what are you plotting?" he called to her.

"Me? Plotting? I'm the innocent one!" She reached a hand through the waterfall, and Ferio took it and was pulled under before her could react.

There seemed to be a small cave cut out of the rock beneath the waterfall, with a moss-covered ledge only a few inches above the level of the pond. It seemed almost too convienient, the moss as soft as a cushion and not at all slimy as it logically should have been, the ceiling just high enough to sit comfortably beneath, the width of the ledge just barely enough space for two people to lie down--

"This isn't a natural cave, is it?" Fuu said, echoing his thoughts. She sat cross-legged on the ledge, while Ferio was still in the water. He pulled himself out and sat beside her.

"No. It's like it was created to--" he blushed, and looked away.

"What?" Fuu sighed a bit exasperatedly.

"It's--it's not appropriate."

"I'm not a little girl, Ferio. Where I come from, a nineteen-year-old is considered a grown woman." She was practically whispering in his ear now, a bit too close for Ferio's comfort. _Or maybe,_ he thought with a well-suppressed blush, _not close enough..._ "Capable of understanding even the most crude of jokes, even."

"Really? You always act so naive..."

"Hikaru's the naive one. I'm the practical one. The one who knows what she's doing."

__

Do you really? Ferio wondered, glad that the darkness of the little cave hid his not-so-well repressed blush. He tried to ignore her breath on his neck, but it didn't seem to be working.

"Though what such a practical girl sees in a lazy swordsman is beyond me to comprehend," he yawned.

"Oh, Ferio," Fuu laughed softly, leaning in even closer to him to kiss his cheek. Ferio panicked.

"Too much time we've wasted," he said, flustered. "We must move on. Must."

"Always in such a hurry, aren't you, Ferio?" Fuu replied. "This is a beautiful place, but you're always saying we've got to move on. What's so great about what's on the other side?"

"You're forgetting about that weirdo, Miata. I don't trust her one bit, and this forest is her playground. I just don't feel safe."

"You just don't want to face anyone," Fuu replied angrily. "This whole trip, you've been whining, 'why me?'! You never even tried to help Clef and the others find out what's going on, what the Cathedral is, nothing!"

"I don't know what the Cathedral is!" Ferio replied.

"You're the only one who even has a chance of learning! It has to do with Pillars, and you're of pillar blood. And you just don't give a damn! You're right, you are lazy, and you're a coward."

"Whenever I even think about the damned Cathedral, it tries to make me something I'm not. It tries to take away my identity," Ferio said.

"So therefore you're not even going to try?"

Ferio looked aside, and Fuu sighed and slid back into the water. "Fuu! Where are you going?"

"To find the others," Fuu replied. "You can face whatever it is you're so afraid of on your own."

She was gone.

It simply wasn't like Fuu to do that. Ferio didn't know what to do...he was beginning to feel lost simply because she wasn't there any more. Why had she become so upset? Had he really been so selfish?

There was nothing to do but move on. They would meet again, and he would apologize, and-

Wait a minute, why should he apologize? She was the one who'd blown up at him! Only because he wanted to keep moving, rather than sit there and waste time...there would be time for that when they got back to the palace, and...yes, Fuu would have to apologize to him, there was no doubt about that.

"Ferio..."

It was a quiet voice, a whisper that came from everywhere. Not Fuu's voice, but familiar.

"My Ferio..."

"What?" Ferio said, looking around. "Miata, if this is another of your tricks-"

"It isn't a trick," the voice replied. A woman appeared in front of him, a woman with dark green hair that flowed to the ground, and amber eyes. The face looked surprisingly similar to his own. She was wearing a white dress, with gloves and a jewel in her forehead.

And she didn't look quite...solid.

"Who are you?" Ferio demanded.

"My name is Cressida," the ghost replied. "Ferio, I thought I would never be able to see you again..."

"You-you're not-" Ferio gasped.

"Ferio, I gave birth to you, and I died. A Pillar cannot survive childbirth. I told Emeraude, my successor, to raise you as her younger brother. The only other one who knew your true parentage was Miata."

"Her? You trusted that crazy witch?" Ferio said, though her words still hadn't quite sunk in. His mother...

"She was like a daughter to me, after her true mother died. And she took care of you in your infancy...and promised me that when you came to the Forest of Songs, she would let me see you again."

"I don't get it," Ferio replied. "You're dead. What are you doing here? How are you here? Just what are you?"

"My spirit is a part of the Cathedral, but Miata helped me to come here, so that I could see you. I summoned you here."

"So you're...my mother..." Ferio said softly, shaking his head.

"I was the Pillar before Emeraude," Cressida said. "I knew what she would have to do, and I also knew there was nothing I could do. Like Emeraude, I fell in love. We were both inexperienced as Priestesses, so it's no wonder that we could not make effective Pillars..."

"Priestesses? What are you talking about?"

"In the time before there were Pillars, Cephiro was taken care of by the Priests and Priestesses of the Crystalline Cathedral. Their magic kept the world safe, and they served as government, judges, helpers-whatever was needed. People could always come to the Cathedral when they had a problem, for the Priests and Priestesses of the Cathedral were completely devoted to Cephiro. They were bound to help, no matter what.

"The price of devoting oneself to the Cathedral, though, was to lose one's humanity. The longer one remained a part of the Cathedral, the more they lost. The oldest Priests were nothing but devotion to Cephiro, with very little humanity left. The youngest, though, the newest to the Cathedral, were still very human. There were only two who had been there for a shorter time than I had, and one was Emeraude.

"People came to the Cathedral in greater and greater numbers, their desires becoming selfish. It became apparent to the rulers of the Cathedral that they were no longer able to take care of themselves, and were depending on the Cathedral for too much. They decided the people needed something to support them-a Pillar-until they learned to take care of themselves. And the idea for the Pillar system was born. Each Priest and Priestess would take a turn as Pillar, and when the people were ready, a system was developed to destroy the Pillar system."

"The Magic Knights," Ferio breathed.

"That's only half of it. The story has become distorted over the years, and the second half completely forgotten. A child born of both Pillar and human blood must reopen the Crystalline Cathedral and awaken the Priests and Priestesses-the Pillars-who sleep within."

Ferio was awestruck. "Are you going to take me there?" he asked softly.

"Yes," his mother replied. "But first-there is one more test-"

All of a sudden Ferio was on the edge of the forest, where it became a plain of snow and ice with mountains on the horizon. Three women walked towards a lake as if in a trance. Hikaru, Umi, and-

"Fuu! What's going on?"

"Magic Knight...Come to me, Magic Knight..."

Cressida watched Ferio's face tighten as he watched Fuu walk slowly towards the still lake.

"Return...to the Cathedral..."

"Mother, what's going on?" Ferio demanded. Cressida said nothing, and her face betrayed no emotion.


	9. So Many Years

So Many Years...

Now Clef was alone, left to himself and his memories. His feet led him to a place that seemed somewhat familiar, though why he remembered it he couldn't tell. The trees seemed to have bent inward to create a living house, branches twisting inward like furniture. It seemed a lot more like a normal house than it had been when he left-

What? Where did that come from? Left? How could he have left, when he hadn't been here before?

It still seemed so familiar...

There was that thick feeling in the air, the way everything felt like her. Mazda Miata. She had disappeared...because he had said the wrong thing to her. How could he have been so cruel?

She had been such a maddening pupil. A nightmare. Getting into fights, getting drunk, skipping classes.

And he had loved her.

Then he saw her-she emerged from another room in the house, and looked at him with surprise. All of a sudden, Clef felt like a brick wall had just slammed into him. Years of memories broke forth in his head, overwhelming him with long-forgotten information, taking him back to a moment years ago, finishing a thought so long left unfinished-

"-can't do this to me!" he shouted at her. "I can't forget what's happened here, please, don't do that to me! Miata, I don't want to forget-"

"Shh," Miata replied, her voice smooth. "It's over. I did what I had to, and I'm sorry, but now it's over."

"It's..." Clef began, relaxing a little as the memories took their proper place in the chronology of his mind. "It's over."

"You did well. The Magic Knights won the Legendary Battle, because you gave them their magic. You gave them Mokona."

"But-I forgot you-"

"It was the only way. I wouldn't let you burden yourself with me. You couldn't know that the Forest of Songs existed until the Battle was done. And there was no warning, when Zagato kidnapped the Princess," Miata replied. Clef sighed.

"We were expecting her to fall apart, not for Zagato to take action. And I never told you-I met your old friend Alcione."

Miata giggled. "She was a worthy enemy."

"Yes, I remember that. I'll never forget that." Clef was laughing, too. "How could I have forgotten anything? It seems so real to me now, so natural-and yet, also, a bit like a dream." 

"Sometimes it seemed this way to me, like I dreamed all of it..." Miata replied. "But it was real."

"We've lost so much time," Clef replied. "We have to make up for it."

Miata smiled. "I'd love to," she said. "But we've got another matter to deal with at the moment. The Cathedral awaits."

"Well, it can wait a little longer," Clef said. Miata laughed and gave in.

"It's been there for thousands of years," she agreed. "It can hold on for one more night. Even though you look far too young to be thinking of such things."

"I'm still just as much a man as when I left," Clef replied.

"Prove it, shrimp." Miata replied. He kissed her.

Miata and Clef stood on the edge of the forest and watched the _Stratus_ land. Everyone seemed to be converging around the lake.

"And now the real fun begins," Miata said.

"I thought the real fun was last night," Clef replied. Miata turned red, but she laughed.

"The lake is a test all its own." As if on cue, Cressida appeared over the lake as the Magic Knights came upon its edge. "And now it's my turn. See ya!" Miata dashed off, and though Clef followed, he couldn't keep up. The Byrde soon caught up with the Magic Knights at the bank, and she was the first to plunge in. Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu followed.

__

She must know what she's doing, Clef thought, but he still felt apprehensive. He waited, nerves on edge, for her to surface, but nothing broke through the serenity of the lake. He found himself staring at it, shaking. To one side of him, he realized, were Ferio and Hayase; to the other side of him was Ascot. They all seemed paralyzed with fear and confusion, looking to Cressida, who floated over the lake, silent. Everything was silent.

Waiting.


	10. With Belief As Our Power and Love Our St...

With Belief as our Power and Love our Strength

Going underwater brought the Magic Knights out of their trance. Hikaru held her breath, then let it out in a surprised gasp as she realized her clothing had vanished when she had plunged under. Then she was again shocked as she realized she could breath underwater, and curled up in a ball around herself, looking around.

"Hello?" she called out.

"Hikaru?" Umi's voice replied. "Hey! What happened to my clothes?" she shrieked.

"Umi? Hikaru?" Fuu inquired. "I can hear you, but I can't see you…"

"I can't see much of anything," Hikaru admitted.

"Where are we?" Umi moaned.

__

—underwater—

"I knew that!" Umi replied. "Hikaru, you don't have to tell me—"

"I didn't say anything," Hikaru said.

"You didn't? Fuu—"

"It wasn't me."

"Oh, this is too weird!" Umi cried. "I hate being naked!"

__

—Magic Knights—

"Who are you?" Hikaru asked.

"What do you want?" Fuu added.

__

—waiting for him to come—

—you have brought him with you?—

—not yet—

"What are you talking about?" Umi demanded.

"The son of Cressida," a different voice replied. Miata, the Byrde of the Forest of Song. "But there are other things to deal with. You remember when Guru Clef taught you how to feel where your magic is?"

"How did you know—" Hikaru began.

"Never mind that now. Just feel where your magic comes from, and wrap that feeling around you. Unless, of course, you prefer to be naked."

Hikaru did as she was told, and felt the warmth of fire around her. It turned into a dress that shone with the intensity of flame. Umi found herself in a garment that flowed like a restless ocean, Fuu in one that seemed to drift like the breeze.

__

--Magic Knights—

"Rayearth!"

"Selece!"

"Windam!"

__

The Mashin were created to destroy the Pillar—now that they have done this, what is their purpose? Miata recognized Aurora's distaste for the Mashin in her thoughts, and shivered. She didn't like what was going to happen next one bit.

"Time for the last test," she said.

"Now what?" wondered Hayase. "What the hell is going on?"

"Don't ask me," Ferio said, and Ascot echoed his sentiments. The three of them looked at Clef.

"I remember Miata went there the first night we came to this forest," he said. "The Crystalline Cathedral is on the other side."

"WHAT?!?" the other three men gasped.

"You knew where this damned cathedral was all the time, and you didn't tell us?" demanded Ferio.

"No, I didn't!" Clef replied quickly. "Miata blocked my memory…but it all came back to me last night. But…back then I was taller…"

"This is no time to moan about your lost height!" Hayase shouted. "What is going on?"

"Hayase. Ascot. Clef. Ferio." A voice called each name, one by one. They looked up to see a specter of Cressida floating over the still lake.

"Hayase," she began. "You were brought to this world against your will. I have the power to send you back to Tokyo now, if that is what you wish."

"But--I can't go back to Tokyo now!" Hayase replied.

"Hayase, what do you want?" Cressida asked.

"I want to fight beside Hikaru," he replied after a short hesitation. "We made a good team when we worked together. I want to be with her in Cephiro!"

"Ascot, what do you want?" Cressida asked.

"I had just found Umi, and now I've lost her again," he replied. "I want to make sure she's safe, and I don't want us to ever have to be separated again!"

"Clef, what do you want?"

"I want to know what's going on," Clef said. "I do remember everything Miata told me now, and I remember you, Cressida. I have given magic to the Magic Knights, and they have done what they were fated to. I know that Ferio, born of both Pillar and Human blood, is the only one who can open the Cathedral.

"But why? What will happen when this Crystalline Cathedral is open? What will it accomplish?"

"Where is Umi?" demanded Ascot.

"Beneath these waters," Cressida replied simply. "Seek her, if you believe that you can save her."

Ascot rushed into the water, and Hayase looked down and sighed. "I have to go. I have to save Hikaru!" He also plunged into the lake.

"Miata…" Clef murmured.

"Go to her," Cressida said, and the Guru obeyed. She turned to look at Ferio—her son. "Ferio...what is it that you want?"

"To forget who I am," he replied. "I've lived a lie all my life. I want to know all of the truth—and then I want to forget it, and live the way I want to. Not as a prince, but as a simple human being."

"Ferio, are you really so unhappy with yourself?"

"Does it even matter? I'll never be good enough for—" he cut off.

"Fuu?" Cressida asked softly. Ferio looked away angrily.

"You can't keep this from me any longer," he began to shout, turning to look back at his mother, "so don't try to evade the question. Who is my father?"

Cressida sighed. "Soon enough you will know," she said. "I will make sure that you meet him. But now, you must choose. Will you run away, or will you face who you truly are?" She disappeared.

Ferio was the last to plunge into the water.

__

Please, make the right choice, Miata prayed silently, watching the three girls in their Mashin. _They are no longer needed. Remember that._

--that is what the Legendary Magic Knights must decide—

Oh, please, Miata thought at the voices of the Cathedral, _give it a rest._

--he is here—

--the son of Cressida—

--only one more test—

Miata could feel Clef coming close to her, and reached out to him. He took her hands and she pulled him beside her.

"There is one more thing I must do," she said. "And then, we will go to the Cathedral."

"Miata, I love you," he said. She smiled.

The Magic Knights and Mashin waited.

__

Your enemy approaches, the Mashin said as one. 

"What?" Umi gasped. "But I don't see—"

Hikaru held her sword out in front of her. "Be ready," she said. "I don't want to be caught by surpri—"

"Ferio!" Fuu cried suddenly. There, drifting in the water, was Ferio. He didn't look conscious. "Ferio…" she reached down to lift him back out of the water, to where he could breathe.

__

Kill him.

"What? I can't!" she cried.

__

He is your enemy. This is the way it has always been. Love will always come between you and your duty to Cephiro. Kill him, so you can be pure, and care for Cephiro with your full heart.

Now Umi caught sight of Ascot, who also seemed unconscious. "Ascot!" she cried out. "Ascot, please, say something! Hear me! You're all right, aren't you? Ascot!"

__

You must kill him, Selece said to her. _He will cause you nothing but pain. He already hurt you deeply, when you believed that he was dead. Why endure such fear, such pain, such uncertainty? Kill him, and you never need worry about him again._

"Hayase! Wake up, please, Hayase!" Hikaru begged Hayase's unconscious body. "Please, I'm sorry I said so many cruel things to you, just wake up!"

__

Kill him, Rayearth said. _It was not so long ago that he was no more than a nuisance. He will become one again, an annoyance, a distraction from your duty. You will fight with your friends beside you—what do you need Hayase for? Kill him, and do Cephiro a favor._

Hikaru screamed. "_I will not!_"

Miata felt all this occur and braced herself. Now was the critical moment. Her heart pounded within her chest, and she gripped the magic of the Forest of Song, waiting.

"Killing Ferio-san will not make me pure," Fuu cried. "I cannot destroy these bonds to others! Love is what makes one strong, not loneliness! I could not have lived without the love of my two best friends, Umi and Fuu! And though my love for Ferio is not the same kind of love, it still makes me strong! We help each other, and do things that I could never accomplish on my own!"

"I worry about Ascot because I care for him," Umi cried. "we must take care of each other, so we can live without fear. Without him, I would feel more fear and uncertainty, and I could not fight with my whole heart for Cephiro, knowing what I had lost. I will not live without him!"

"I know that I didn't get along with Hayase at first," Hikaru cried, "but now he has matured, just as I did when I first journeyed here. Now we are both so strong that when we are together nothing can stop us. I love my friends, but I love Hayase too, and I would never, ever hurt him! How could you ask me to do such a thing?"

"Don't you see?" another voice cut in. Miata. "The age of the Pillars is over. Devotion to a cause—or even an entire world—is a wonderful thing, but what makes this world wonderful is the fact that we are all individuals within it. With belief as our power and love to give us strength, we each find our own way through our lives. The choice between duty and love should never have to be made by anyone. The pain felt by Emeraude—Cressida—even myself—should never have to be endured again."

__

--We are no longer needed,-- one of the Mashin said.

"Miata, what are you—" Clef began, and then, everything went black.

__

No more need for the Forest of Song, Miata thought as she manipulated several strands of power. _No more need for the Mashin,_ a voice that was more Aurora than Miata added.

Miata let loose her magic. The Mashin disintegrated, leaving the Magic Knights intact. She used her magic to place them—and their three men—on the shore. Now each wore different clothing, chosen by the magic of the lake itself—clothing in the style of the time when the Crystalline Cathedral had been open. She and Clef stepped out together, and Miata knew that she once again wore the Byrde's dress. Now, she accepted it.

Clef gasped at his first view of the Cathedral.

Hikaru awoke and wondered why she had become unconscious. She rolled over to see Hayase lying on the lakeshore beside her. "Hayase!" she gasped, crawling over to look more closely at him. It was strange—on this side of the lake there was no snow, or wind—the weather was as pleasant as it had been in the Forest of Song. "Hayase, are you all right?"

He coughed and looked up at her. "Hikaru!" She threw her arms around him, weeping with happiness.

"Where are we?" Umi wondered. "Oh no, Ascot!" She started for the ocean, but then saw him lying on the sand, his chest rising and falling slowly with his breath. She sat down beside him, and his eyes slowly opened. "You're all right?" she asked him softly.

"I'm fine," he said. "Umi—may I kiss you, please?"

Umi blinked, then leaned slowly down to him, presenting her cheek. He leaned around to kiss her mouth.

Ferio and Fuu awoke facing each other.

"Are you all right?" wondered Fuu.

"I'm fine. Are you?"

Fuu nodded. "I—I want to say—"

"I'm sorry," they finished as one, and laughed at themselves.

"It's finally almost over," Fuu sighed, sitting up. "We're out of the Forest of Song, anyway."

"There is no more Forest of Song," Miata interrupted. "At least, there is no more magic to hold it to my power. I used its magic to destroy the Mashin."

"You _destroyed _the _Mashin_?" the three girls gasped as one.

"I couldn't have done it if they had fought me," Miata replied with a shrug. "But they had no more purpose, so they could be destroyed."

"Still, that must have taken an amazing degree of power…" Clef said. "Miata, I have always known you were full of surprises, but this is one of the least expected."

"Now, I can get into the Cathedral on my own, but I can't take any of you with me. Only one born of Pillar and Human blood can open the doors to all the people of Cephiro, and bring about the Return of the Priests and Priestesses who sleep there. Ferio, are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," the green-haired swordsman replied, trying to hide his apprehension. "It seems I have no choice."

"Then we'd better go," Miata replied. "There's the Cathedral." She pointed, and they started towards it.

"Not so fast," a voice behind them shouted. Miata looked over her shoulder to see Camaro and Camry—each carrying a laser-gun.

"Cephiro will be ours, Princess," Camry added. "Resistance is futile." He giggled, and Camaro smacked him.

"Ignore this nitwit!" he cried. "Surrender now or else!"

"To the Cathedral! Run!" Miata shouted, and Camaro and Camry opened fire.


	11. The Price of Victory

The Price of Victory

The Price of Victory

A man stood between them and the carved jade doors of the Cathedral. His dark blue hair, was tied back in a ponytail, and he wore armor and carried a sword. His armor was reminiscent of that Dal Lafarga had worn, as the Pillar's bodyguard. His arms were crossed, and there was a dispassionate look in his eyes.

But he could not maintain that look for long.

"Clef!" he gasped.

"Aston," Clef breathed.

"We must get inside," Ferio said. "I have to open the door!" The man stepped out of the way, and Ferio placed his hands against the doors. White light blazed out around them, turning the dark green jade white and changing the picture carved into them. Instead of the three Magic Knights and the Mashin, there was a long table, with many people sitting around it. Most were unfamiliar, but at one end of the table were images of Cressida, Emeraude, and--

"You?" whispered Hikaru, looking to Miata. Miata shook her head.

"Aurora," she corrected the Magic Knight. The doors swung open, and Ferio entered first, followed by the others.

"What are you doing here, Aston?" Clef asked the man in blue. "Everyone thought you were dead!"

"My lady has awakened me, and summoned me to come here," he replied distantly. "Where our son will awaken her."

"So you're Ferio's father, Aston!" Miata gasped. "How do you know Clef?"

"Dal Aston is my older brother," Clef explained.

"I can't believe I never knew..." Miata breathed. "I should have guessed, but...Cressida must have kept it from crossing even my mind."

Meanwhile, Ferio walked forward as if in a dream. "Ferio," Fuu said softly, following him. He didn't acknowledge her, only continued to move forward, toward an altar in the center of the Cathedral. The other two Magic Knights followed her, and Ascot and Hayase trailed after them.

"Now he will bring about the Return," Miata whispered. The white doors slammed shut behind them, leaving them in total darkness. A moment later, the altar began to glow from within, casting an eerie light around the Cathedral. Everything seemed to center on Ferio, as he knelt before the altar. The Magic Knights made a triangle around him, each kneeling and glowing with the light of their magic. Fuu sat to one side of him, a green flame glowing from her heart, and Umi to the other side of him cast a blue light. Hikaru knelt behind him, casting a red glow. Their magic reached out to touch the other Knights', making a glowing triangle around Ferio.

Then _something _shifted. For one second, time seemed to lurch, producing a feeling not unlike a sudden drop of several feet. As suddenly as it began, it stopped, and light flared around the room. The altar opened to reveal a staircase, and Ferio stood and stepped aside.

People began to come out.

The Priests and Priestesses of Cephiro long past looked as if they had gone through nothing more than a long nap—never mind that it had been one that lasted thousands of years. The high council emerged first, and then the others, in order of their induction into the Priesthood. The very last was a green-haired young woman with amber eyes. She ran to embrace Aston, tears stinging her cheeks.

"If only Emeraude could have been so lucky," Ferio murmured as he watched his parents embrace. The final pillar of Cephiro had not emerged from the altar.

"Emeraude gave up her chance of a new life in her wish to be with Zagato," Cressida told her son. "Let me introduce you to your father. This is Aston. He's the best swordsman in Cephiro."

"Well, I might have been at one time, but I'm a bit rusty now," Aston replied, shaking Ferio's hand. "I'm glad to finally be able to see you, my son."

"I'm just glad we're all here and alive!" Ferio replied happily. Fuu hung behind him, thinking he didn't remember she was there, until, all of a sudden, he put his arm around her and hugged her against his side. "And, Father, this is Fuu. She's one of the Legendary Magic Knights, you know."

"Is that so?" Aston asked.

"Hi," Fuu said shyly.

The Highest Priest of the Council looked at Miata, staring her in the eye. She met his gaze levelly and calmly.

"I apologize, for treating you so badly, Aurora," he said.

Miata sighed. "As you know her, Aurora is dead," she told him. "My name is Miata. Byrde no longer, as the Forest of Songs no longer exists. Simply Miata."

The High Priest nodded and strode towards the white jade doors. They opened before he reached them, and he gasped.

Camaro and Camry stood in the doorway, waiting.

"No more playing around," Camaro snarled. "This time, Cephiro will be ours." He fired a shot carelessly, melting part of an ornamental railing. "If you resist, you'll end up like that…uh…like that…" He was unable to come up with a name for what he had just shot. "Like that thing, whatever it is, okay?"

"_Shardora!_" Clef cried. A spell hurled at Camaro and Camry, only to be stopped by an invisible shield. Camaro laughed and fired in Clef's direction. The Guru dodged.

"_Sheiro!_" Miata cried, casting a glowing shield around Guru Clef. Though her magic was no longer quite as strong without the Forest, she still had enough power to be effective.

"Red Lightning!" Hikaru cried, attacking the two intruders. Their shield repelled her magic.

"Your magic is no match for our technology!" Camaro laughed. "Give up now, it's useless!"

Hayase drew his sword and charged at him, ducking the bolt Camaro fired at him. His sword hit the shield and stopped, and he struggled, pressing against it, sweat beading on his forehead.

"What do you want?" the High Priest demanded.

"Cephiro," Camry sneered.

"I can't believe we're actually winning!" Camry gushed. "I don't think we've ever done this well! Most of the time we've already failed before—"

"Shut up!" Camaro screamed at his brother.

"Sorry," Camry said meekly.

"You're outnumbered and surrounded," Miata said sardonically. "If that's what you call winning, I'd hate to see what happens when you lose."

"This is our cathedral, so let us handle this," the High Priest said, stepping in front of her. The other priests and priestesses nodded and formed a circle of twisting light.

"I don't like the look of this," Camry muttered. An insane gleam lit Camaro's eyes, and he pulled something from the pocket of his uniform.

"Do you know what this is?" he asked. "It's called lillis, a powder made from the lillis flower that grows on your very own planet. When treated with the right chemicals, it becomes one of the most powerful explosives known in the galaxy. There's enough here to blow this whole place to bits, and I won't hesitate, if you attack. My shield will protect my brother and I, but you won't stand a chance. Or will you test me?"

Miata froze, but she noticed a figure moving up a staircase behind Camaro and Camry. Guru Clef climbed up to a high balcony, moving cautiously and purposefully.

"The Cathedral can withstand far more than you think," a priestess cried defiantly.

"Oh, really?" Camaro chuckled. He took a few grains of the powder and threw them onto the ground in front of the priestess. She jumped back as each exploded and formed a crater a few feet wide and deep. "I can do a thousand times that, at the very least. So why don't you just make it easy for yourselves and give up now?"

Clef stood on a balcony high above Camaro and Camry, whispering a spell and holding his staff out in front of him. Miata watched him, holding her breath.

"What are you looking at?" Camaro sneered, and turned to see Clef standing on the balcony. Just as Clef finished his spell, Camaro hurled a handful of powder at him, and there was an explosion. The stone and crystal of the balcony crumbled, and Clef fell to the ground.

"What?" Camaro gasped, and he had time to say no more. He and his brother vanished suddenly, with no more ceremony than a popping sound as air filled the space they had vacated.

Miata didn't see it. She saw a scene from a life long gone, a vision that was all too familiar—

__

*

"You really are wasting your time, you know," Alero said. "Not only are you too young for me, but I am a priest of the Cathedral. I cannot love or marry anyone."

She was looking through Aurora's eyes at a tall, purple-haired magician.

"I hate the Cathedral. They think that they can meddle around in everyone's lives to their own purposes."

"We only do what we must. It is the people who demand more of us than we can deliver."

"Whatever," Aurora sighed. "But even if you don't love me, you must admit that this is stupid! Going on this mission is suicide, and you know it!"

"I never said that I didn't love you, Aurora," Alero replied, "but I have no choice in this matter. If through my death I can bring about a greater good to Cephiro, I will do it. That's all I can do."

"There just has to be some other way! Some way that no one will be killed! You can't die, I won't allow it!"

"Aurora…" Alero sighed. "You don't understand. I suppose you never will."

"That's right, I don't understand! And I refuse to understand why anyone could willingly send someone else to their death!"

"Because they have no choice." Aurora turned her back on him, shaking with sadness and anger. "I didn't say that I liked it, but I have no choice. I'm scared, damnit! Do you think I want to die?

"But I'm the only one who can destroy the Gistrin, so I will. And I will die." He sighed. "Eh?" Alero looked down to see that Aurora had wrapped her arms around him, her head against his chest.

"Why does it have to end this way?" she whispered. "It's wrong, and it's not fair…"

"You're so young, Aurora," Alero sighed. "You'll find someone else, someone young, someone you'll like more than me."

"I will not," Aurora replied.

"You will get along without me." He pushed her away and turned to leave. "I must go, now."

"Alero?" she asked softly. He looked back at her.

"Aurora?"

"Do you think, maybe, someday, somewhere, we'll meet again?"

"I don't know," Alero said. "Just hope."

When the news came back of Alero's death, Aurora had run to the Cathedral and pounded her hands bloody on the doors. There a priestess found her, exhausted, still whispering hoarsely, over and over again, "damn you."

"You must come inside," the priestess said.

"Why?" Aurora demanded.

"You possess magic, didn't you know that? That's why you've been called here. You are to become one of us."

Aurora glared at her. "I don't care. I guess you can kill me, too."

And she entered the Cathedral for the first time.

*

She ran through the cloud of dust and debris where the balcony had collapsed, digging through it, tears running down her face. She didn't want to see what she found. With agony and hopelessness, she pulled his lifeless body onto her lap. The dust was beginning to clear, and the Magic Knights were the first to reach her. Ferio, Ascot, and Hayase followed, and Aston and Cressida after them.

"Oh my God," breathed Fuu, covering her mouth.

"Don't just stand there, Fuu, use Healing Wind!" Umi shouted at her. Fuu shook her head, but could not force words out of her throat.

"Healing…cannot bring him back, now…" Miata whispered.


	12. Moving On

Moving On

Moving On

"Clef…" Aston whispered, looking down at his brother. Even the stone on the magician's forehead had cracked, and he was still half-buried in the debris.

"He saved us all…but at such a cost…" Cressida said. "I've never had a vision go wrong before. I thought things would turn out all right…"

"I won't let it end like this!" Miata screamed, her voice tearing in agony. "This is wrong! I will not have him returned to me, only to be stolen away again!" She gently lay his body back down on the ground and stood, her expression changing from sadness to anger. She walked up to the High Priest and seized him by the throat.

"You owe me," she said, her voice deadly and quiet. "All of you owe me! For my mother, and her mother before her, and all the way back to Aurora, every woman you forced to live in agony! Because you stole me away from him when I was Aurora. I won't let it happen again."

Everyone had gathered to watch her, now. "_Bring him back,_" she demanded, and let go of him.

"What makes you think that I have this power?" the High Priest asked.

"For thousands of years, you slept like death," Miata said. "You have all the magic of the Cathedral at your disposal. I don't want to play around on this, understand? Just do it. Now."

"You have done as you promised," the High Priest replied. "A reward is to be yours. But what you have asked will drain away all the magic of the Cathedral, all that makes us what we are."

"What do you mean?"

"Through the magic of the Cathedral, we have been able to devote ourselves completely to the people of Cephiro as a whole," another priest explained. "The longer once stays in the aura of the Cathedral, the more of its magic they absorb, and the more they can care for Cephiro. If you intend to take that away from us, we would be no more than—"

"Than human beings?" Miata interrupted. "People, with emotions? Are you afraid to return to this form? You should not be. The times are different from those you remember."

"You are right," the High Priest said softly. He raised his staff, murmured something—

And nothing happened. The entire cathedral was silent. For a moment, everything was still.

And then they heard the rubble shifting, as a figure in it shifted. He touched the broken stone on his forehead, then looked at his hand in awe. It was no longer the hand of a child.

"I'm here," he gasped.

"Guru Clef!" The Magic Knights ran towards him, but Miata beat them all there. Cressida looked at Aston, and to the other Priests and Priestesses, and sighed.

"If only Emeraude could be here," Ferio said, echoing her thoughts.

"She is happy where she is," Cressida replied. "You shouldn't be here, Ferio. You should be over there, where your friends are."

"But what about you? Do you have any friends to talk to?" Ferio addressed both his parents. His mother smiled.

"Not yet, exactly," she said, looking towards the other Priests and Priestesses. "But I will not be long in finding some. Once they get the hang of being human, anyway."

*

"You're not a midget anymore!" Umi said to Clef.

"He doesn't seem to be paying much attention to you, Umi-san," Fuu said, tapping her shoulder.

"Hikaru, would you kill me if I said that this powdered lillis stuff is…" Hayase paused for dramatic effect. "…'da bomb'?"

"You--!" Hikaru gasped, taking off after him. Umi and Fuu laughed.

"Some things never change," Fuu said.

"Are you guys going to go back to Earth now?" Ascot wondered. He looked sad. Umi shook her head vehemently.

"Are you kidding?" she asked him. "What, you have so little faith in me that you think I'd run off on you like that? Of course we're staying here!"

"We may have to go back to Earth sometime. Our families will miss us," Fuu said.

"Well, of course we'll visit, but how could we stay there? We obviously belong here!" Umi said.

"Oh, won't your mother and father be so proud when they find out little Umi-chan's in love!" Hikaru, now done chasing Hayase, teased. Umi turned bright red.

"Oh my god! We disappeared from my wedding! What are they going to think?"

"If we can go back to the chapel, only the two of you switch places…" Hayase said, and it was Hikaru's turn to blush.

"Uh…Just what are you implying, Hayase?" she stuttered out.

Ferio walked up behind Fuu, and put his hands on her shoulders, whispering in her ear.

"So are you telling her that you love her? That you want to marry her?" Umi asked. Ferio jumped a little and put his hand behind his head, blushing.

"Hey, I don't think that's any of your business!"

"Tell us tell us tell us!" Umi cried. "We want to know!"

Clef and Miata stared into each other's eyes.

"So, we really have come out all right," Clef whispered.

"Shh. Don't say anything about that. You'll jinx us."

"What now, then?"

"Well, I think I'd like to have children sometime, but right now, I just want you to myself. I say we have the High Priest here marry us as soon as possible, and then we go somewhere far away for our honeymoon. Then we come back here, and leave our mark on this new world we're building."

"Sounds like a good plan to me," Clef said.

"You know, I think you were cuter as a little kid," Umi teased him. Clef spun around.

"What?" he gasped in mock-anger.

"Then I suppose you'd want Ascot back as a little kid too, then?" Miata asked. Umi gasped.

"Of course not! How'd you know about that, anyway?"

"I watched you while you were on your journey," Miata replied. "Not all the time, but enough to know how you were doing. So, when are you and Ascot going to get married?"

Both Umi and Ascot froze, and Miata laughed.

"Get away from her while you can, Clef! She's truly evil!" Ascot said. Clef laughed.

"I'm sorry, but I think I'm stuck with her."

"You're not stuck with anyone. You wanna go, then go. See if I care. Bye!" Miata said. Clef mock-pouted.

"I'll only go if I can take you with me," he said.

"Sure," Miata replied. "Where are we going?"

"I haven't decided."

"Great! Let's go! The sooner we get there, the better!"

"Weren't we supposed to be married first?"

"Clef, you should've brought that one up two hundred years ago." Miata reveled in the Guru's look of embarrassment and everyone else's discomfort. "Well, what would the two of you do if you had the Forest of Songs to yourselves?" she asked, turning her attention on Ferio and Fuu.

"We would be married, first," Fuu said. Miata sighed. 

"Well, better late than never." She and Clef walked over to speak with the High Priest.

"Aha! So you are going to get married!" Umi said accusatively towards Fuu and Ferio. 

"A brilliant deduction," Ferio sighed.

"I suppose that technically neither of you has dated anyone else for the last five years, but then again, you weren't exactly dating each other then, either…"

Ferio and Fuu got sweatdrops. "Don't you think that Ascot deserves some of that attention that you've been showering on us?"

"Ascot already knows that I love him."

"I…I do?" he stuttered. Umi turned to face him.

"Of course you do! And I know that you love me, too. It's nice, isn't it?"

Ascot nodded emphatically. "Yes, Umi, that's very nice."

Hikaru and Hayase were bickering again over something-or-other.

"As for them…" Umi drifted off.

"They'll come around," Fuu said. "They haven't known each other for very long, but Hayase has matured quite a bit just in the time that they spent together. They'll be all right." 

"Yes," Umi agreed.

*


End file.
